Corrupted
by TheBadBoys
Summary: "Remember, the world you live in today is not the same as it was yesterday. It won't be the same tomorrow. You must adapt. You're in the jungle now." His scars were on the surface, rough on his skin and hard in his eyes. Her scars ran bone deep, invisible and soaked in whisky. Pre-Far Cry 3. OC. UST.
1. Chapter 1

****Disclaimer: I do not own anything in my stories except for the _fan_ fiction (including plots, OC's and so on). All the characters belong to the rightful owners. Any songs/poems/etc in my stories do _not_ belong to me unless stated otherwise.****

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**Hello again.**

**Fuck, it's weird posting on fanfiction again. Wow.**

**Anyway, this is not the time to be reminiscing. This is a new story. I'm terrified of posting it here to be honest, but none the less here it is.**

**This initial idea came to me when in The Far Cry Experience (during the electricity torture) Vaas asks Chris "Have you even been in love?" and then he says "I've been in love once, or maybe twice." Anyway, yeah. ****This story however is not a romance story, but there will be hints of it every now and then.**

**The story takes place _years_ before Far Cry 3!**

**The Vaas in this story is Vaas BEFORE he learns the definition of insanity, so very much still Vaas but just a little less insane. Saying this because Vaas might seem a little OOC, I know. I know, trust me I know. The reason for this is because Vaas in The Far Cry Experience and Far Cry 3 is so damn brilliant that I don't think I would ever forgive myself if I went to wreck that brilliance.**

**I didn't know whether to call this the prologue or the first chapter, so I went with the latter.**

**Anyway, enough of this. I will let you get cracking.**

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**Chapter 1**

"_**Begin at the beginning," the King said, very gravely,**_

"_**and go on till you come to the end: then stop."**_

She leaned her head back and looked out the window of the helicopter. The North Island wasn't far away anymore, and she saw deep green jungle laid out on it that seemed to go on for forever. The air was thick and warm, incredibly humid. She took a deep breath and wondered why she had taken this job again.

_Because it pays half a million fucking dollars._ Her inner voice reminded her and she wished her mind would shut up for once. It was true though, the money was why. Money was the only reason she did anything anymore.

Soon the helicopter touched down with a slight jolt on the beach, they were at the most southern point of the island as far as she knew. A privateer, who had been called by the name of Hector, sat opposite of her told her to hold out her arms, as soon as she did the man snapped handcuffs onto her.

"Isn't this a bit much?" She turned to the man next to the privateer.

The man, in his fifties with black hair and dead blue eyes, merely smiled at her. It was one of those mocking smiles. She knew that smile as she had seen many of them before. That smile made it clear that he wasn't fond of women unless he was fucking them. That smile made her want to punch it off of his face, but she couldn't. "No. It's not." Hoyt Volker was a powerful ally to have, plus he was going to pay her half a million dollars. "You know what you have to do." Hoyt said right before Hector slid the door open.

Hector climbed out and Hoyt was next. The privateer who was next to her nudged her to move and she got up from the bench. Hector grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her out of the helicopter. The hot sun was blazing down on them, burning her eyes with the brightness. Once her eyes were able to take in the surroundings she noticed two men on the beach, standing near a vehicle.

One in army green cargo pants and a black shirt, a red bandanna was tied around his neck and a huge gun strapped to his back. The other, with dark blue jeans and a red shirt, spotted a mohawk and a nasty looking scar, even from afar, on his head. She recognized him to be Vaas Montenegro, the Pirate King.

Hector stopped her a good fifty metres away from the vehicle, Hoyt kept walking forward while Vaas came forward to meet him.

"Vaas!" Volker said and threw his arms to the side, surprisingly happy to see the scarred man.

"Hoyt. What the..." Vaas spoke. She only caught small bits of the conversation. The random bits of dialogue added up to nothing coherent, but damn the man knew how to swear. However, judging by the way the Pirate King pointed at her and let out a few more swears, she took a shot in the dark to assume that he didn't expect a woman to arrive on his island.

Her wrists strained on the handcuffs, wondering why the fuck was Hoyt pulling this sort of shit. After a few more minutes Volker turned back, Hector let go of her and headed back to the helicopter. The helicopters engine turning on and flooding the beach with noise. Hoyt stopped at where she stood, his blue eyes looking her up and down. "You know what to do." He said and licked his lips. "Don't fuck up." Then he walked off.

"Volker!" She shouted at the man. "You gonna take the handcuffs off or what?"

Hoyt merely turned his torso, smirked at her and waved her goodbye before climbing into the helicopter. She sighed and turned around, with the intention of walking toward the two men, but instead she smacked into a hard, puffed out chest. After a second of wavering on her feet, she caught her footing. Her eyes turned upward and were met with crazed ones. His eyes caught her off guard, not because of the way he was glaring at her, she had gotten that look too many times to be fazed by it, but because of their odd colour. A mix of hazel and light green, with a few golden flecks. They were... pretty.

"Hello." She said and took a step back, putting some space between the two.

"You are Vincent?" Vaas spoke, his voice was smooth with a Spanish accent. She didn't know what she was expecting, but it wasn't_ that_.

"_Scarlett_ Vincent." She said, emphasising her first name. "Vaas Montenegro, I presume?"

Vaas was tallish, 5'10 or 5'11. He was of athletic build, muscular with strong shoulders. Across his torso, over his shirt, were two belt looking things. Black leather combat boots were laced onto his feet. His hands, bearing bandages, wraps and a couple of pieces of jewellery, were cut and dirty. Around his neck was more jewellery; a red string like necklace, a black beaded one and a green rock, which looked like it had been snapped or broken somehow, on a black piece of string. He had a red piece of fabric tied around his left bicep and Scarlett briefly wondered that if he flexed enough would it snap off. His scar, looked even rougher up close. It wasn't clean-cut, hinting at the fact that it was personal. The jagged scar, which ran from his eyebrow to the back of his head, was thicker at the eyebrow and grew thinner the further back you went.

During the time that Scarlett took him in, he was apparently taking her in too. His eyes lingered at her breasts for a moment too long for her comfort. "I was not aware you are, in fucking fact, a woman." The corner of his mouth curled up a little, as if he found the fact amusing.

"Sorry to disappoint." She lifted her, still handcuffed, wrists. "Any chance of Volker giving you the key?"

Vaas laughed, shaking his head and then turned around. "C'mon hermano." He started walking toward the vehicle. "Hermano. Hmm... Hermana?" He eyed her over his shoulder, as if guessing that Scarlett had an opinion on the matter. "I'm going to have to work on that."

When they reach the car, she finally got a good look at the other man. He was taller than Vaas with about the same amount of muscle. He had a beard covering his jaw and a thick mop of dark brown hair on his head. His eyes, matching the hair, were a dark brown. His skin was a medium olive tone, though still a bit darker than Vaas'. He was, handsome to say the least. Then he smiled, which made him about ten times more attractive, because it was one of those big and honest smiles.

It almost made her forget that he was a pirate and most likely Vaas' right hand man. Almost.

"Well hello, miss Vincent." The man said, in thick accented English. He was from somewhere in the Mediterranean perhaps. "I am Carlos."

"Scarlett," She offered a smile back at him.

He opened the car door from the side and motioned for her to climb in. "Get in, Scarlett."

"You don't happen to have anything to cut these fuckers off, eh?" She asked while she was seated in the back. Vaas took the wheel and Carlos climbed into the passenger seat, pulling his assault rifle into his lap.

Carlos shook his head. "Sorry."

Scarlett let out a breath and leaned back. Slightly tugging on the handcuffs, examining them. They were in perfect condition, so her own strength wasn't going to be enough to break them, and they were also on rather tight. She wondered if she got her hands on some oil would she be able to slip her hand out. She didn't happen to have a bobby-pin on hand either. Scarlett was snapped out of her thoughts by Carlos' voice. "What are you here for anyway?"

"How much did Volker tell you?" She questioned, turning her gaze to Vaas, at the same taking note of his strong jaw.

Vaas' eyes were on the road, his right hand on the wheel while his left hung lazily out of the window and down the side of the car. "Your fucking accent, where are you from? Europe?"

Scarlett nodded. "Yes, Europe." She was intent on not giving away anything that wasn't necessary for either of them to know. She said nothing more, looking expectantly at Vaas and waiting for him to answer her initial question.

The scarred man eyed her through the rear view mirror. "He told me you were an assassin." He clicked his tongue. "He said you killed a man, you need a fucking place to hide."

"Oh so you're a killer?" Carlos' eyebrows lifted up. "You don't look like a killer."

Scarlett smirked slightly. "Don't believe everything you see, eh?" She wanted a pair of sunglasses, a bottle of whisky and those fucking handcuffs off of her. "Yes. I killed a man, a very important man. However if I needed a place to hide I wouldn't be here. I need to disappear completely. For a while anyway." The story was half true, she _had_ killed a man. A politician who had influence all over the world, but she didn't need to disappear or even hide. Nobody knew it was her who committed the murder.

Carlos had his torso turned toward the woman sitting in the back seat. "Still not getting the whole killer vibe from you, though." His dark eyes roamed over her face.

The ride was long and no one spoke too much. Vaas and Carlos exchanged a few words in Spanish every now and again. It was fine my Scarlett, she wasn't in much of a talking mood anyway. By the time they got to the docks, her wrists were red, not to mention aching, and her ass was sore. When she looked out the window, she saw a half a dozen pirates loading up a boat with wooden crates. Scarlett was thankful when they got out of the car, as she got to stretch her legs, though she wasn't exactly prepared to the reaction she got.

As if by a magnet, everyone single one of the pirates' eyes were glued to her the moment she got out.

"Hello pretty lady." A man her height with a red bandanna wrapped around his dreadlocks asked her with a chuckle, a wicked smile on his lips. He spoke in a deep, French accented voice. He was now standing next to her and he reached his hand up to stroke her cheek, but she slapped his hand away before it could touch her.

"You sure you wanna do that?" Scarlett asked. She had been warned that these pirates were savages and used to raping every woman in sight, but damn she seriously wasn't expecting anything like this, this fast.

The man chuckled. "Where'd you find this one Vaas? I like her." He tilted his head to the side and licked his lips. "I bet she's a screamer."

"You will not fucking touch her!" Vaas said loudly while walking around the car, drawing all of the eyes to him. "None of you _fucks_ will touch her, alright?" He shouted and looked at every single man. The man with the bandanna winked at Scarlett and then wandered off. "You touch her, you fucking die." He whistled loudly and started to walk toward the boat. "Where the fuck is the old fucker?"

Carlos leaned against the car and lit up a cigarette, Scarlett turned to him. "Mind if I bum one?" Carlos eyed her for a moment and then whipped out the pack. Then he pulled out the lighter and lit it for her. Scarlett leaned onto the car next to him and took a drag of her cigarette, smiling slightly as nicotine once again flowed in her bloodstream.

"Is he always like that?" Scarlett asked motioning to the Pirate King, who was shouting and swearing again. Her wrists were screaming for her to stop moving, but she tried to pay no mind to it.

Carlos smiled. "Stick around and find out."

A truck, practically identical to the one she was leaning against except that it had a roof, pulled into the docks. A man was driving the truck, through Scarlett couldn't see what the driver looked like because of the sun reflecting on the windscreen.

She took another drag from the cigarette and leaned her head back. She slowly blew out the smoke and closed her eyes. It was so fucking hot out. The sound of the car door opening reached her. Then she heard a voice that made her blood run cold, despite the heat, and her heart stop. "Vaas! I got the fucking crates!" The man shouted. Scarlett quickly opened her eyes and whipped her head toward the newly arrived vehicle.

The voice was thick, deep and raspy from years of smoking cigars. The English man who owned the voice was close to 60 years of age, 6'5 tall and muscular as a bear. His head was covered by a mop of blond and grey hair. His name was Gareth Kidd... and he was dead.

Scarlett followed the man with her eyes in shock. Her mind throwing a bunch of questions at her. The most prominent being "_how_". Scarlett watched as the man interacted with Vaas. She couldn't tell if she was dreaming, if she was breathing, hell she felt like she was suddenly submerged in water. She felt a tightening in her chest and her stomach wanted to turn itself inside out. She wanted to ask Carlos who the man was, but her when she opened her mouth no sound came out.

Scarlett saw as Vaas sent two pirates to fetch the crates from the vehicle and then lazily motioned to her with his hand. The old man turned to glance at her, then turned back toward the Pirate King. A second later his posture noticeable stiffened and he turned back toward Scarlett again. Before she realized her feet were taking her toward Kidd and Vaas, anger boiling in her blood.

"Scar?" The old man asked, his raspy voice coaxed in disbelief and eyes wide, as soon as she was earshot.

"You motherfucker!" She said, her voice rising almost to the level of shouting by the end. She pushed him, with both of her handcuffed hands and put all of the weight in her torso into it. She was disappointed and even more angry, when she saw that the man only stumbled back a half a step. "You _lying_ mother_fucking_ piece of _shit_!" She hit Gareth's chest as hard as she could. She could feel the tears starting to well up in her eyes but she bit the inside of her cheek to stop them.

Gareth wrapped his hands around her wrists, holding her in one place. His eyes were still wide with absolute disbelief. "Scarlett." He murmured, his eyes roaming over her face. Scarlett tried to yank her hands free from his, on the second tug he let go. "Scar. What the fuck are you doing here?"

"I take it that you two know each other." Vaas exclaimed with a chuckle, clearly amused, neither of the two paid attention to him.

"What the fuck am I doing here?" She shouted, clearly still pissed off. "How the _hell_ are you alive?" As soon as she spoke the words and it hit her. Gareth was alive and had let her think that he wasn't. He had lied to her. He had betrayed her. She felt like she had been stabbed. For five fucking years she had thought him dead, but no. Here he was, alive and well. Soaking up the sunshine.

For the first time since he layed eyes on her, his eyes moved away from Scarletts face and noticed the handcuffs on her wrists. "Vaas. You can't sell her." The old man turned to the younger one. "You have to let her go."

Vaas bubbled up a laugh and Scarlett, with a little displeasure, noticed that he had a very nice smile. The Pirate King motioned toward the jungle with his hand. "The mujer is free to leave."

Gareth grabbed her bicep with his massive hand, saying "C'mon Scar, I'll get you out." while still keeping his eyes warily on Vaas, wondering if the scarred man was serious about letting her leave. What he didn't expect was for Scarlett to, once again, yank herself free.

"Don't you fucking dare." She said and took a step back from him.

"¡Orale!" Carlos shouted, "We have to get going before nightfall!"

Scarlett quickly glanced toward the general direction of the sun, noticing that it had dipped down a noticeable amount. Two men lifted the last crate onto the boat and Vaas motioned to the boat. "Right this way," Offering her another smile.

She turned to walk to the boat, but yet again Gareth grabbed her arm. "Seriously, the whole arm grabbing thing is getting old real fucking fast." To say that she was still extremely crossed with the man, would have been an understatement.

"Look," Gareth sighed, "Scar. You don't know these men, they will tear you to pieces as soon as they fucking can. Let me take you away while I still can." Scarlett shook her head in disbelief. "I am your-"

"You are my _what_?" She lashed out, her hands balling up into fists. "Huh? You have no fucking right to pull any of that shit right now. You are supposed to be _dead_. You let me believe for five fucking years that you were _dead_."

"I hate to break up the fucking reunion, hermanos." Vaas' patience was growing thin. "But do you think you two can continue on the fucking boat. Huh?" He wasn't exactly shouting but he wasn't far from it. Gareth loosened his hold on the woman, and walked with her onto the boat. She took the opportunity to yank her arm free, she wasn't kidding when she said that it was getting old.

"So if you're not captured, why are you wearing handcuffs?" Gareth questioned, and the boat's engine rumbled to life.

"Aah," She lifted her hands up and tugged on them, as if emphasising that indeed the handcuffs were there. "This is a little present from Volker."

"Volker?" The man raised his eyebrows. "As in Hoyt Volker?" Scarlett gave a curt nod and the old man groaned. "_You're_ doing business with Hoyt. What business do you even have to do with him?"

"You sound disappointed," she noted as her eyes found Vaas, who was standing at the very front of the boat not far from her. His face was not angry, but a certain sharpness was still present there. He wasn't relaxed, his eyes roaming from the sea to the shore that just came into sight.

"I am." Gareth said and he sounded tired.

Scarlett's eyes travelled from Vaas' face to his shoulders and downward. She noted, perhaps with a little resentment, that he had a very nice ass. She thought back to what she had heard of the man, a ruthless and unpredictable killer. It didn't once cross her mind that he might be even remotely physically attractive. As Scarlett kept staring his ass, she muttered out "You have no right to be," to Gareth. As if on queue, the pirate at the nose of the boat turned around and his eyes landed on her.

She had been caught red handed staring at a Pirate Kings ass.

_Wonderful start._ Her inner voice retorted and Scarlett imaged that if her inner voice had hands, it would be clapping slowly. A mocking clap, sarcastic even. Scarlett's eyes lifted to the scarred man and he rose a curious eyebrow, his eyes holding a glint of mischief. The pirate turned around and sauntered toward them.

"If you're working for Hoyt, what the hell are you doing _here_?" Gareth questioned.

She wished that she could have ran a hand through her brown hair, a habit that she had had ever since she was little. "Disappearing. I killed a man."

Gareth laughed. "That's funny." Scarlett raised an eyebrow at him. "Now tell me why you're really here."

Scarlett ignored the old man and instead turned to the Pirate King who was now next to her, on the opposite side from Gareth. "Montenegro, do you seriously have absolutely nothing on this boat to cut these fuckers off?" She waved her wrists in the air for a moment.

"My name is Vaas." He took a drag from the cigarette that was dangling from between his fingers and Scarlett wondered if she was to actually call him Vaas instead of Montenegro would he end up snapping at her. "And all I know is that they're probably on there for a reason. So no." With a smirk in her direction.

The frustration was slowly building up in her. Scarlett felt overwhelmed as she looked back at the North Island, with a man who was supposed to be dead next to her and a Pirate King on her other. The sun was setting and the orange light touched the jungle, blowing it up in a warm glow. The air felt lighter, not as humid as before. Clear blue water licked the long sandy beach, it looked beautiful.

Truly beautiful. It looked like paradise.

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**So that was all for this time.**

**What do you think?**

**If this gets a good reaction from all of you people, I'll post more.**

**Reviews are better than Vaas' ass... Actually no, they're not but we'll just have to make do.**

**Adiós amigos.**

**-Max**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything in my stories except for the ****_fan_**** fiction (including plots, OC's and so on). All the characters belong to the rightful owners. Any songs/poems/etc in my stories do ****_not_**** belong to me unless stated otherwise.**

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**A/N: Hello again amigos.**

**I realized today that it had been two weeks since I posted the first chapter. So I apologize for this one coming onto the interwebs so late. This also means that you are in no mood for my fuckery, so I'll let you get on with it.**

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**Chapter 2**

"_**Everything is funny, if you can laugh at it."**_

_In and out. In and out. Scarlett focused on her breath as she ran. The jungle, green and lush, sped by her as she pushed her legs to move faster. Her muscles ached, her lungs were burning and it felt like her veins were pumping acid._

_Run. Run._

_Bawa._

_She couldn't stop. She knew she couldn't stop. If she stopped... No. She couldn't even think of what would happen if she stopped. A sense of doom hung over her as tears stung the back of her eyes. She couldn't run much longer. She knew that._

_Run. Run._

_Saya._

_She had to be smart. Be smart._

_Run. Run._

_Ke._

_How can you be smart in a situation like this?_

_Keep running, Scarlett._

_Run._

_Jantung._

_Her vision was blurred with tears and the green that was passing her by, she didn't even notice a tree that was horizontally on the ground. She stumbled and fell flat on her stomach._

_Anda._

_Words were said, but not by her. At least she didn't think it was her. Even if it was her, she couldn't understand them. She wasn't even sure she heard them, she just knew they were said._

_She felt a tug. And then she was drowning. Water as far to the sides as she could see and deep down below her, turning into a menacing black void. She didn't dare take a breath in._

_Her muscles locked up and she couldn't move. The only this she could do was scream, but even that was muffled by the water._

Scarlett sighed. It was that moment of blissful emptiness that you get when you first wake up, everything was blank for a good couple of seconds. Blank from the dream before and the day before. However all too soon she was overcome with a wave of annoyance as sunlight shined right into her eye from the small window in the room. Scarlett groaned and rolled to her other side, a spring from the bed digging into the skin over her ribs uncomfortably. She stretched, several of her joints cracked, and the handcuffs, still present on her wrists, felt cold and painful. As she opened her eyes she saw a figure not far from her. Scarlett quickly pulled out the knife from under her pillow and pointed it at the person.

The knife was given to her the night before by Gareth, as a mean of protection.

"Whoa, whoa," Vaas put his hands up to show he wasn't going to hurt her. "Did I startle you?" He laughed.

"What the fuck?" Scarlett groaned, lowering the knife but still keeping it in her hand. She was still slightly disoriented from sleep and couldn't think of a logical reason why the Pirate King would be in her room.

"Good morning, amigo." Vaas' voice bounced off the walls and he was clearly amused by her reaction. "Would you like a fucking tour of my little camp?" Vaas smiled and casually leaned against the wall with his shoulder. If it was any other time, Scarlett would have pushed the thought out of her mind, because she didn't want to admit that the smile was in fact, beautiful.

Scarlett sat up on the bed and rolled her head, so that her neck cracked from all of the angles. "I- Yeah, alright."

"Magnífico!"

"I need to change first."

Vaas' lips twitched, "As you wish." When Vaas didn't move, Scarlett crossed her arms to the best of her abilities.

"In _private_." She stated, narrowing her eyes at him slightly, and the man slowly left the room, a smirk on his lips.

She huffed out a breath and sat down on the edge of the bed. Her handcuffed hands rose and she rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands. She looked around the small room that was given to her, it was a small rectangular box. The room had old wooden walls, wooden floor and a small double bed. With a sigh, she stood and started removing her shirt, only to remember that she had no luggage. Everything that she did bring with her, Hoyt had failed to deliver to the island. Hell, even if she did, she couldn't change her shirt without ripping it because of the handcuffs. Frustrated, she straightened her shirt back down and tucked the knife into her boot. Scarlett excited the room, Vaas was leaning against the wall next to the door.

He gave her a once over and lifted an eyebrow in confusion. "Your clothes are the same." Scar ignored the man and proceeded to walk out of the building. The building had three bedrooms and an empty hallway. Scarlett was merely glad that she didn't have to sleep in the building with the rest of the men. According to Gareth, there was one room with ten beds, which meant more men than beds.

As soon as they were out of the main door of the building, Vaas slung his arm around her shoulders. She was going to shrug it off, but his hand was dangerously close to her neck and very much _present_, that she opted that it would only piss him off. Vaas was not the kind of person who you wanted to piss off. She had learned that yesterday, when she had made a comment about something completely insignificant, she couldn't even remember what. She did remember his reaction though. Vaas had slammed her against the wall, hand at her throat and his teeth bared right in her face, like a wild animal. Then a second later he was laughing, while still strangling her. Scarlett was sure she had bruises on her neck from that.

"So, hermana, this is my fucking camp." He motioned around them lazily with his left hand.

Vaas showed her around the camp, telling her where most of the things were. She was glad to hear that there was internet access in a building across the camp from her quarters. Last night, when they had gotten to the camp, it was dark and she was tired and in pain. Meaning that she took in less than she should have. Now, in daylight, the camp was bigger than she expected, lots of buildings and many cages of screaming and crying hostages on one side of it.

Vaas was exactly what she expected, yet he was nothing like she expected. He treated her well enough, knowing she was under Hoyt's protection, though he did put a blade to her throat a couple of times. Scarlett quickly learned to respond to his questions as fast as possible and try not to piss him off too much. She did admit that his reactions amused her slightly, but she didn't exactly have a death wish.

"You fucking hungry?" Vaas questioned, as if on cue her stomach growled loudly and Vaas laughed. The last time had ate was when she was on the plane to the Rook Islands. Close to thirty hours ago, if not more. "I shall take that as a yes." He led her into a mix between a shack and a deck. Or a shack with a deck whilst being on said deck. On the deck itself there were many tables and chairs surrounding them. Tied to the poles, that held the beams upright and supported the rickety pieces of metal which were disguised as a roof, were two hostages.

One was a young woman, who couldn't have been more than maybe eighteen years old. She had light blonde hair that was once perhaps up in a bun, now half of it was down and sticking to her dirty skin. Her eyes were closed and she had a sweet face, even with the dirt and dried tear marks on her cheeks. The other was a boy just entering manhood, perhaps the same age as the girl next to him. He was lanky, with arms and legs too long for his torso. Scarlett eyed them carefully, wondering why in hell where they in what seemed to be the kitchen slash cafeteria for the men. The thought of the pirates being cannibals quickly flashed through her mind and she felt her stomach twist. Scarlett and Vaas sat down at a table and it wasn't long until two plates of food were in front of them. The meal was mostly fruit and Scarlett wasn't complaining.

A kiss landed on top of Scarlett's head. "Good morning, kid."

"Hey, Gareth." She responded as the man sat down next to her. She was still crossed with the old man, but she warmth in her stomach over the affectionate, yet some-what insignificant, act gave away how much she had really missed Gareth.

"Sleep well?" He questioned and stole a piece of mango off her plate, popping it into his mouth with a grin.

Scarlett merely shook her head. "Well enough, I suppose." Gareth took a seat next to her and she continued to speak. "Can I ask, why the hell are there two people bound up here like pigs?"

Gareth chuckled and nudged arm with his elbow. "Dinner."

Scarlett stared at him for a moment. "You have got to be fucking kidding me." she said, Gareth's grin widened.

"They are there because they _are_ pigs," Vaas said in a-matter-of-fact voice and stood up, walking over to the blonde girl. Her eyes opened, revealing clear and bright blue eyes, at the sound of footsteps approaching. "They tried to run." Vaas pulled a gun from the holster on his hip and stroked the girls cheek with the shiny barrel. The girls eyes pooled with tears and they were soon running down her cheeks, she bit her lip to keep silent.

Scarlett swallowed and her stomach felt hollow, regretting ever bringing up the two hostages.

"They know, there is no fucking way out." Vaas was mere centimetres away from her face. "They know, that there is no _fucking_ escape." The girl squeezed her eyes shut and let out a sob. "Shh shh," He shushed, wiping her tears away with his thumb. "It's going to be okay, shh. Don't cry." It was terrifying how sincere he sounded, then again for all Scarlett knew he could have been.

When the girl didn't stop crying, Vaas grabbed her chin and pulled her toward himself a little. "What did I just tell you, mujer? Huh?" She bit her lip again, muffling her sobs. "What? The? Fuck? Did? I? Tell? You?" He shouted, pronouncing each word separately for emphasis.

The blonde girls lip trembled as she spoke. "S-s-stop crying." She managed to stutter out in a broken voice. Scarlett wanted to go and defend her, to cut let loose and send her far away from this godforsaken place. She knew however, that it would do more harm than good. There was no way out by yourself. Also, if she helped the blonde girl, she herself would most likely be taken hostage. Scarlett was sure that Vaas, at that point, wouldn't care that she was under Hoyt's protection.

"Yes!" Vaas threw his arms up with a smile. "I told you, to stop the fucking crying!" Vaas shouted at her, his voice was strong and commanding. All of the men around them didn't pay attention to the screaming, but you could tell that they tensed up. All of their movement became that much more calculated and careful as a reaction to the strength of Vaas' voice.

The girl let out another sob and Vaas sighed in disappointment. "Amigo. Pay attention now. Okay?" He sounded like was about to explain something to a three year old. "If. _You_ do _not_ stop crying. I will be _forced_ to give _you_ to Smiley." He raised an eyebrow at her.

Vaas motioned to the man with the dreadlocks and red bandanna, who had commented about her the previous day. He was three tables over from Scarlett and Old Man, slightly swaying while sitting. Smiley waved his fingers at the girl, smirked and kissed the air in her direction, letting out a sickeningly wet and loud 'mwah' sound.

"And trust me," Vaas nodded. "You don't want to... How do you say? Get acquainted, yes. You do _not_ want to get acquainted, if you know what I mean, with Smiley. No, no, no, no, no you do not." Vaas laughed.

"Leave her alone!" A voice sounded, it took a moment for Vaas to realize that the voice came out of the boy who was also tied up.

"What the fuck did you say?" Vaas asked. He walked over to the boy and stared him down. "What the _fuck_ did you just say, hermano? Cause, uh. I couldn't hear you." He motioned to his ear with his gun. "I'm asking you to repeat yourself, amigo."

"I said." The boy paused. "Leave her alone!" Then the boy spat on Vaas' chest. Scarlett admitted that the boy had guts, but sadly no brains.

Vaas chuckled, looking genuinely amused. "Alone huh? You want _me_," Vaas motioned to his chest with his gun. "To leave _her _alone?" Vaas motioned to the girl.

The boy nodded and Vaas cocked his head to the side. "Alone. Alone means having no one else present. On one's own. Solo. Solitary. Lone. Huh?" He grabbed the back of the boy's head by his hair and Scarlett winced at the sight. The boys eyebrows pulled together in pain, but he kept his jaw set. The boy was still staring down Vaas. "Without others' help or participation. Single-handed. Unaided. Unassisted." He chuckled again and pressed the barrel of the gun under the boys jaw, pointing up at his head. "Alone. Huh? Isolated and lonely. Deserted. Abandoned. This is what you want, huh?" He laughed again, a hysterical laugh. "You kids, you kids these days! You have a really fucked up concept of love, you know?"

Vaas was terrifying, there was no question in that. However Scarlett was still surprised that Vaas managed to give the boy a dictionary definition of the word 'alone'.

Another laugh from Vaas. "Hey, Old Man!" He called out and let go of the boy, pulling his gun back at the same. "Did you hear this boy? Eh? He wanted for me to leave his mujer over there _alone_. Can you believe that?"

Gareth grumbled something in response which even Scarlett, right next to him, couldn't understand. Vaas however seemed to take no mind.

"You wanted me to leave her alone, and you know. I like to please people." He did a little dance and smiled at the boy. Scarlett's eyes stared at his ass for a moment.

_That is one fine ass._ The little voice in head noted. Scarlett felt sickened by herself that in a situation like this _that_ was a thing she paid attention to. Vaas pulled the barrel of the gun back and pressed it to his temple.

"VAAS! VAAS!" A man, with an AK-47 in his hand ran toward the deck. "Cepat!" He said and then went on a rant in a language Scarlett didn't understand. She guessed it to be perhaps the native language of the island.

When Vaas responded in the same language, his voice seemed a lot deeper compared to when he spoke English. Vaas pulled the gun away from the boy and tucked it back into the holster. He then shouted out in Spanish, most of the men dropped whatever they were doing and started grabbing their guns. Gareth got up as well and Scarlett followed suit.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" Gareth questioned.

Scarlett raised her eyebrows. "I'm coming with you." She said as if it was obvious and to her it was.

"No." Gareth said. "It's too dangerous, plus you don't even know where we're headed."

Scarlett felt like she was ten years old again. "I am _not_ staying here."

Gareth's eyes flickered to Smiley still sitting at the table. His legs were popped up and he was chewing on a banana. Gareth sighed and nodded, "Fine. But first, I have to go get my walkie-talkie. Coming?"

They walked toward the building that earlier Vaas has pointed out as the building with internet. As they neared it, you could hear loud dubstep blaring out of it. The building was like the rest, on the verge of breaking down. It was rather small and when they entered Scarlett saw there were two rooms. The bigger one that was right there when you walked in, was filled with computers, a big stereo and both steel and wooden crates. The other room was small and only separated by a half wall, so tecnically the whole inside could be considered only as one room. The smaller bit was filled with a bed and clothes that were sprawled on the ground.

At the desk, staring into four different computer screens was a tall and skinny young man with dishevelled blonde hair that reached past his ears. It struck Scarlett as odd, because everyone else was big and muscular and this guy was just scrawny.

Gareth turned the music down to only background noise and the blond turned around in the chair. He had a tall and bony face with high cheekbones and an angular jaw. He had full lips, bright blue eyes and a big straight nose with a piercing in it. His was very pale and clad in red t-shirt that had a black spray painted Marvel S.H.I.E.L.D logo on it and a pair of tight black jeans.

"Scar, this is Kip." Gareth said and Kip offered her a smile. Scarlett gave a hesitant wave back. Gareth went to the side of the room to dig though a box, "Scar could you look through the other one," he said, referring to the wooden box that was right next to him.

Scar leaned down to open the crate and noticed that the crate was in front of a radiator. She stared at the radiator in bewilderment, thinking why on earth anyone on a tropical fucking island would have a radiator installed. Gareth took advantage of the moment when Scarlett zoned out. With another pair of handcuffs he locked Scarlett to the radiator.

"Wai-What? _Whoa_!" Scarlett shouted. "No. _No!_ Gareth you are not fucking doing this! Seriously!"

Gareth stood up and got out of her kicking reach. "Sorry, kiddo. I can't have you come with us. You shouldn't see shit like that, plus I know you'd figure out a way to come after us. To top that off, I ain't leaving you with Smiley."

Scarlett was boiling with rage. "You motherfucker! And you do not get to decide what I see and what I don't. You gave up that right a _long_ time ago."

"Sorry." Gareth said, actually looking honest. "Have fun with Kip." With that he walked out, leaving behind an amused Kip and an angry Scarlett.

"That motherfucker!" Scarlett said to herself in absolute disbelief. "What a fucking dickhead." She sighed and leaned against the radiator, her arms awkwardly draped over her shoulder. "Please tell me that you're going to unlock me."

Kip gave her an apologetic smile.

"Damn." She sighed. "Why the hell do you even have a radiator, seriously. It's always hot as fuck."

Kip scratched the back of his head, messing his hair up even more. "I honestly have no clue." He was a londoner, judging by his voice. "Maybe Vaas is terrified of global warming and likes to be prepared in case of an ice age?"

Scarlett giggled, her anger starting to slowly fade. "That's one possibility." For some reason the thought of Vaas wearing a big winter jacket was extremely comical.

Kip stared at Scarlett for a moment. She evaluated him to be about her age, maybe a bit younger even. "You're Vincent, right? Scarlett Vincent, but Vincent nonetheless."

Scarlett nodded, wondering why it mattered. Kip got out of his chair and started moving around small crates. When he found the one that he was looking for, he bought it to her. "This came this morning." The box was a wooden and it had her surname spray painted on it.

"What's in it?"

Kip shrugged.

"Will you open it for me? Cause, uh," she jiggled her hands so the handcuffs made noise, "I'm a bit tied up."

Kip snorted at her bad pun, but retrieved a metal bar from the table and opened the lid of the box. It held all of her personal belongings that she brought to the island. This meant that she had clothes and her laptop, including other necessities. "I thought those were lost for forever!" At least there was one good thing that happened today.

Anger surfaced again. _Fucking Kidd,_ she thought. Scarlett looked at the things she could reach, nothing was of use to pick the lock of the handcuffs. With a sigh she tried to see if there was anyway that she could yank her hands free, but quickly came to the decision that without breaking her hands there wasn't.

For an hour she sat there on the box filled with wires and the like. Kip had, thankfully, brought her two pillows, one to sit on and the other to lean on. It didn't help much, but it was still better than the metal digging into her back. During the time she was there, Kip chatted. Scarlett also noticed that Kip was never still, he was always moving, tinkering, pacing, tapping. Then she found out that he had ADHD and was practically a genius when it came to technology. She learned that he also played the guitar.

"What's your story? How did you end up here anyway?" Scar wondered.

He shrugged and proceeded to screw something apart. "I uh, I'm an orphan. Originally anyway. My parents gave me away right after I was born. I was adopted when I was four. Lived in London, then I lived in Bangkok and then London again. When I was thirteen I dropped out of school. Well no." He leaned back in his chair for a moment. Then stood up and started rummaging through crates, all the while talking. "I didn't drop out per se, I ran away. So I doubt I'm still enrolled. Anyway."

"Why?" She interrupted.

"Why did I run away?" He questioned and Scarlett nodded. "Because my foster parents didn't let me drop out of school, they were both university professors, and school just didn't _work_ for me. You... You wouldn't understand. Nobody ever _really_ does."

"Explain it, please." Scarlett was honestly curious. Kip seemed, so innocent and too normal to be living here. "I want to understand but I can't do so if you don't explain. Help me understand."

Kip stared at her for a moment, his brows furrowed a bit. "I just can't connect with people. I don't know why, but I can't. People always expect you to be like them, but I'm never like anyone. At least I wasn't back in London, nor in Bangkok really. I can't work with people and I can't learn the same way that others do. School was hell, because we had to sit in lessons and read. And when everyone else can do it fine and you can't, you become a freak. You're a problem."

Kip quickly glanced at Scarlett to see if she was still listening and she nodded for him to go on. "It frustrates me and when I'm frustrated I get irritated and angry. The thing is though, that I can't control it. And that's just shit."

Scarlett found it odd how Kip was able to open up so fast to a person he didn't even know. She herself could never do that, it took her years to open up to people."I'm sorry," Scarlett said, knowing full well that there was nothing she should be sorry about and that her being sorry wouldn't change anything. However, she felt like she still had to say it.

Kip shook his head with a smile. "That's okay. Really." His smile widened and Scarlett found herself smiling as well. "Thank you though. No one had ever-" He cut himself off. "Anyway. After I ran away. I lived homeless for two years, going and coming as I pleased. Only after food and shelter really."

"You were _thirteen_?"

Kip nodded, "I made friends with a couple of other guys, they were all older than me obviously. When I turned fifteen, me and another two, had gathered enough money to go somewhere. Far far away. I of course suggested Bangkok. I mean, I remembered the city pretty well so why not." When Kip spoke he was very animated, he spoke as much with his face and arms as he did with his voice. "Getting there is a story in itself. Anyway. When we had spent a couple of weeks in Bangkok, this DJ said that he knew this island where you could do anything. Like whatever extreme sport you wanted and like the _craziest_ things. So he knew of my skill with everything electronic and he said they need a guy like me on the island."

Kip started sorting through the contents of three boxes. "You know, take care of well... Everything that needed to be taken care of. Technology wise. I didn't exactly know what the hell I was getting into." He laughed and forgot the boxes, going back to the desk. "It's not that bad really. After the initial shock it's actually been alright. Better than anywhere else really. I get to be as fucked up as I want and no one cares." He seemed genuinely happy about it.

Scarlett smiled at the boy. "Holy crap. I was definitely not expecting that. So that's what you do? Computer stuff?"

Kip nodded and lit up a cigarette, offering one to Scarlett. To which she nodded, he put the cigarette between her lips and lit it. "Yeah. Pretty much. I rewire alarms and stuff too. There's what, nineteen other outposts like this one, a bit smaller, on the actual North Island."

"What do you mean nineteen?" Scarlett was confused.

"Like." Kip squinted at her. "Where most of the pirates actually live. There's maybe a dozen of us here, this is mainly the place where we hold the hostages. There is a good couple of hundred pirates all together... Don't tell me you thought it was just us?" He laughed, not waiting for Scar's response to continue. "This is the safest place to be. No Rakyat is going to attack here. This island is a fortress in itself. The outposts on the main island are the ones which usually get attacked, so those have alarms and shit to let others know that they're being attacked. Eight out of ten times the alarms get blown out, so I fix them."

Scarlett was confused. "Who are the Rakyat?" She took a drag of her cigarette, even though the extra movement was only adding to her discomfort and pain.

"You really know nothing about this place huh?" Kip wondered and she shook her head. "I don't know if I should tell you."

"No one else has told me so you might as well."

"Who are you?" Kip asked, not in a hostile way.

"I'm... I'm Scar. I'm here because I need to disappear." Her arms were going numb. "You could imagine my surprise when I ran into Gareth. Especially because I thought he was dead."

Kip sat next to her. "You know Kidd?"

Scarlett nodded. "Yeah." She smiled slightly. "The man raised me. He used to be best friends with my dad." She cleared her throat. "So how long have you been here?"

"Five years," he smiled.

"You're... Twenty?"

Kip nodded. "Your dad. It's a tough subject." He wasn't asking, it was a statement, which meant he was more observant than he let on.

"It's a killer." Scar laughed a dry laugh, then averted her eyes. Turning her gaze to her knees, she shook her head. She decided not to push the Rakyat question for now.

"Your neck," Kip motioned with his finger, which confirmed that she did indeed have bruises there. "What happened?"

Scarlett let out a dry chuckle. "Vaas."

Kip smiled and nodded, seemingly understanding. "Yeah, I've been there."

Hours passed. At some point Kip ran out to get the two of them food. It felt weird for Scarlett to have someone feed her, but she was hungry and tied up, so there wasn't much of a choice. Hours kept passing. The two bonded over muffins from a café in London's Soho, their love for Enrique Iglesias and many other things. The topic of Enrique was bought up when the stereo started playing one of his songs. Scarlett noticed that she hadn't felt this carefree in a long time, despite being handcuffed to a completely illogically placed radiator.

Kip was a truly nice person, she realized. Then she started wondering if he had ever killed anyone, because she couldn't imagine it.

It was starting to get dark outside. "Where did they go? Gareth, Vaas and the rest of them." Scarlett asked, she could barely feel her arms anymore. She had been standing up for a while, trying to move them just to get the blood flowing but it hadn't helped much. Plus, remembering how she had to pee made her cringe.

By this time Kip was taping a large piece of metal to the ceiling. "From the time that they have been gone, I'm guessing there was an especially large yacht going by. Perhaps even a proper ship of some sort."

"So what, they just raid it?"

Kip shrugged. "Basically. I mean. First they take it over, then they have to get the people off of it. Then they have to clean out the ship from everything remotely valuable and useful, which can take a good couple of hours at least. Depending on the ship size, of course. After that a couple of hostages have probably tried to escape, some might have even managed. Which means Vaas getting pissed off, killing a couple people and then sending the men after the ones who ran away. This takes another couple of hours, cause the jungle is bloody confusing. _Then_," he stepped down from the chair to look at the duct-taped masterpiece on the ceiling.

Scarlett didn't dare to ask what it was. She guessed if she asked, Kip would answer something about aliens and anal probing, or something equally disturbing, which would completely tarnish the good image Kip has built up for himself.

"_Then_," Kip continued. "They've got to get everything back to here. Plus the boat they transport everything with is so fucking slow. Especially if they're on the other side of the island of something. It's a long process." He dragged out the 'o' in the word 'long'.

It was another hour until they heard the trucks drive back to the base. Another half an hour until the heavy footsteps, that belonged to Gareth were heard. During the half hour period, screaming and gunshots filled the air. Kip didn't seem at all bothered by them, so Scar tried not to be either. However, the hysterical and terrified screaming made it difficult to be indifferent. Especially when the sound made you want to cry and save them all.

The door opened and in walked a tired looking Gareth. "Hey kids. Have fun?" Kip smiled and Scarlett glared at the Old Man. "I'll take that as a yes." He unlocked Scar and her arms fell into her lap.

"Now if you'll take the other ones off as well." Scar mumbled.

Gareth offered her a hand and pulled her up. "Don't have the key, but I did find something that might help you. You coming to eat, Skipper?"

Kip jumped down from the table he was standing on, securing the piece of metal to the ceiling, and followed the two out of the house. As they were nearing the deck Scarlett observed that the deck was practically empty, she figured that most of the men had finished eating by now.

Vaas was standing at the foot of the steps that led onto the deck with another man with chin length salt and pepper hair. A dog was laying down between then. When they were walking up to them, Gareth whistled loudly. The dog pulled his head up and the two men gazed at the trio.

"Maccie, c'mere!" Gareth commanded, Scarlett saw that Vaas looked particularly happy.

The dog ran past Gareth, toward Scarlett. Scarlett held her ground, thinking it might attack. Instead Maccie started sniffing her feet and then started jumping on her. Scar smiled and crouched down, petting the dog. "Haya, Maccie. Was it Maccie?" The dog, as far as Scarlett could tell, was a Doberman and a rather adorable one at that. "You're so cute I just want to squish you."

Gareth whistled again. "Maccie. Get over here."

The dog let out a whine and walked over to Gareth. Gareth took a bobby-pin out of the dogs collar and handed it to Scarlett. "Got it off one of the hostages. You still remember how to pick these?"

"I could do it in my sleep, Old Man." She smiled.

They walked a couple more steps, so they reached Vaas and the other man. "You fucking piece of shit. You're a guard dog, you're supposed to fucking attack strangers! Not fucking lick their face. Not dry hump them. No. You're supposed to _attack_!" Vaas exclaimed loudly at the dog, while Maccie hung his head and whined. Nudging the toe of Vaas' shoe with his nose. "Ger'off!" With another whine Maccie climbed the steps onto the deck and layed down.

Scarlett noticed that the man next to Vaas was older, perhaps in his mid-forties. He had brown eyes and a beard, matching his salt and pepper hair. The most noticeable thing about his face however, much like Vaas', was his scar. The man bore a Glasgow Smile, which piqued curiosity inside of her. Scar smiled at the Pirate King. "You do realise that dogs can sense these things you know. Who's an enemy, who's not."

"Fuck you, mujer." The scarred man blew out smoke.

Scar bent open the bobby-pin. "Oh you wish." Vaas' eyes lit up and he smirked, taking another drag from the cigarette.

Scar bent the head of the bobby-pin into an 's' like shape and skilfully picked the locks in no time. She rubbed her red wrists, letting out a small moan and a gasp when it hurt more than she thought it would. She pocketed the bobby-pin and handed the handcuffs to Gareth.

Gareth was looking at her incredibly impressed. "Like I said, I could so it in my sleep."

As they were eating, Scar found out that the man who was standing with Vaas was named Montrose and he was Scottish. It seemed that no one really called him Montrose, they seemed to opt more for Monroe. Scar also found out that the dog was actually called Machiavelli.

"Machiavelli?" She wondered. "You named a dog after a renaissance philosopher. Why?"

Vaas shrugged. "Why the fuck not? There's also Plato, Nietzsche, Hume," he blew out a breath. "There's a couple more."

Then Gareth spoke up. "Oh, one of the men has something to ask you." He smiled with a glint in his eye. "You're going to _love_ this." He called out a name, which Scar didn't catch, and a pirate who was a couple of tables away made his way over.

He nodded to Vaas, but Vaas paid no attention to the newcomer since his eyes were fixed on Scarlett. The newcomer took a seat and pulled out a coin. "If I flip this coin," He addressed Scarlett with a strong accent. "What are my chances of getting head?"

Gareth mouth was in a thin line, eyes full of amusement. His face turning slightly red, clearly from holding in laughter, while Vaas just smirked and raised his eyebrows. Scarlett smiled and leaned toward him. "Oh, sadly there are no changes of that. However, with a little luck, you might be able to get a hand."

The man smiled wide and leaned toward her. "Really?"

"Oh _yeah_," Scarlett nodded and slapped the man hard across the face. "_Wow_, it looks like you don't even need to fucking flip it." Her wrist stung, but the slap felt too good to regret.

Gareth laughed loudly and banged his fist on the table. Vaas' eyebrows were high and his mouth was shaped like an 'o'. Kip joined into Gareth's laughter and Monroe looked impressed."I fucking told you she'd get you." Gareth managed to say and the man left. "Fucking idiot. I _told_ him!"

"She has got fire, this one." Vaas exclaimed and pointed a finger at her. "I like it."

"I do my best." Scarlett said confidently.

Soon enough, they were all done eating. A couple of cigarettes later, Scarlett announced that she's heading to sleep. Gareth helped her carry the box with her belongings to her room.

"Listen, I really am sorry that I cuffed you to the radiator." Gareth said as he set the box down. "I just, I have to keep you out of harms way. Plus, I knew Kip wouldn't do anything. I trust him, he's a good guy anyway."

Scarlett said down on the bed with a sigh. "You _do_ realize that I'm not a child anymore? After you died, I _had_ to grow up. I had no one, other than Shaun, and at the time I didn't know where he was either." She ran her hands through her hair, she noted that they were disgustingly greasy. "Why did you do it?"

Gareth shook his head. "Not tonight." He rubbed his eyes. "Goodnight, kiddo." He said and left the room.

"Night." Scarlett muttered a while later.

Scarlett changed her underwear, but still ended up putting a fresh pair of jeans and a shirt on. It was surprisingly cold during the night and her blanket was basically a sheet, which provided little to no warmth. She then spread some moisturiser to her wrists and went to sleep. It was safe to say that she was asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

A bit later, she woke for a brief moment, thinking she had heard a noise. She felt disoriented. She had the thought that she might get up and check, but her eyes were drooping closed with sleep drawing her back into its sweet embrace. When the room was completely silent, she relaxed. However right before she could turn around to her other side, she felt a jolt of pain at the back of her head and everything around her went black.

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**A/N: So. What did you think?**

**Reviews are better than being handcuffed to a radiator, trust me.**

**Adiós amigos.**

**-Max**


	3. Chapter 3

****Disclaimer: I do not own anything in my stories except for the ****_fan_**** fiction (including plots, OC's and so on). All the characters belong to the rightful owners. Any songs/poems/etc in my stories do ****_not_**** belong to me unless stated otherwise.****

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**A/N: Amigos.**

**I have an action packed little chapter for you people this time around. I do apologize for it's shortness in length, but I sincerely hope the contents of it will make up for it.**

**I don't usually like using caps in stories, but I kind of felt it necessary to get a few points across.**

**Also...**

**TRIGGER WARNING: RAPE, ATTEMPTED RAPE, VIOLENCE, AND A LITTLE BIT OF TORTURE.**

**Now that that is out of the way, do continue on.**

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**Chapter 3**

**"_I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then."_**

When Scarlett came to conciousness her hands were tied above her head, she was standing and her head hurt like a motherfucker. She groaned as she leaned her head back, moving it made her feel like she was spinning. She felt ill, like she was going to throw up. She didn't see clearly for minutes, only registering vague and smudgy shapes in the darkness, though she heard muffled voices around her. When she regained her vision and hearing, minutes later, she saw that there were a bunch of pirates around her, all of them on various levels of drunkenness. A gag was tied around her head, pulling at her cheeks painfully and robbing her the ability to speak and shout. As she scanned the crowd, neither Gareth nor Vaas was anywhere in sight. A pair of rough hands went to her waist in an attempt to unbutton her jeans, as the man, who Scar recognized to be the man who she slapped because of the coin joke, laughed.

"GARETH!" Scarlett tried to scream but it came out muffled because of the gag. Even without the gag it would have been neither clear nor loud enough to be heard over the mens laughter.

"You fucking puta. I will make you mine and you will fucking enjoy it." The Coin Man laughed as he pressed a hand onto her breast. "That will teach you not to turn me away, nobody fucking refuses _me_! You should be glad that someone will even fuck you, stupid little bitch. You're mine now. I fucking own you."

His hands went to undo his belt, a pleased grin on his lips. Scarlett leaned back against the wooden pole she was tied to, it was thick and didn't budge when she swayed. She grabbed the rope tied around her wrists with her hands and pulled her knees up, then kicked the man as hard as she could across the chest. Her arms and wrists were in awful pain, the latter were still sore from having the handcuffs for two days. Scarlett was pretty sure that the friction from the rope combined with the previous wounds was enough to break the skin and make them bleed.

Coin Man fell down as Scarlett tried to yank her hands out of the ropes. When the man managed to get to his feet again he slapped Scarlett hard across the face. "Feels fucking great doesn't it?" He slapped her again and again. A total of seven times. Scarlett bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes because of the pain that was radiating from her head to the rest of her body.

Coin Man then balled up his fist and hit her hard in the stomach, her spine and the back of her head hit the wooden pole hard making her cry out in pain. This seemed to encourage the men as they laughed and edged the Coin Man on. He groped her and placed sloppy kisses on her neck, it made her want to throw up. Scarlett's ears were ringing and her vision had little black spots in it. He punched her again.

When the man moved a metre away from her, she pulled up her legs again and tried to kick him. The Coin Man quickly stepped aside, pulling out a knife from the back of his cargo pants. Her knife. With one quick movement he cut from the inner edge of her collar bone down toward the middle of her breasts. The smell of blood filled the air around Scarlett.

"Puta, try to tone down your fucking fire! Eh? Otherwise I will have to kill you before we have any fun!" Coin Man laughed, grazing the tip of the blade against Scarlett's cheek.

Scarlett felt her heart beating like a drum, blood rushing in hear ears and pain radiating all over her body, almost paralysing her. She felt like crying but her eyes were dry.

_It's now or never_. Her inner voice warned her.

Scarlett tried to steady her breathing as the Coin Man slapped her again and went back to undoing his pants. Scar placed both of her legs steadily onto the ground, her body screamed at her to stop moving because every movement felt like she was being stabbed. She counted her breaths to ten and then yanked her arms down with as much strength as she could muster. Somehow from somewhere the rope let loose or broke and even though her arms were still tied she wasn't tied to the pole anymore. Scarlett swung both of her fists into the Coin Man's face, he fell down and the pirates went silent, slowly backing away.

The adrenaline rushing through her veins cancelled out the pain that she was in to the point where she didn't feel it at all. Her chest was heaving violently and her eyes were wide with fury. She looked deadly... and slightly unhinged. Scarlett tugged her hands free from the ropes while the man was on the ground holding his jaw. She landed a hard kick into the Coin Man's ribs. Then she untied the gag from around her head and tied it around her knuckles.

She noticed the Coin Mans mouth was bleeding. She didn't care, she was livid. She pulled the man up by his shirt, so his head was no longer on the ground, and punched him hard in the face, letting him hit the ground with a smack.

"Number one," She shouted, "I am _not_ fucking_ yours_." She kicked him hard in the side, hopefully breaking a few of his ribs. "Number two, I am not anybodys fucking property!" She grabbed him by his shirt again and punched him before he could react. "Motherfucking _three_! YOU DO NOT FUCKING _OWN_ ME, ASSHOLE." She sat on top of the man and punched him again and again and again in the face. He struggled at first but soon was incapable.

She didn't stop when the man's face was completely covered in bright red blood. She didn't stop when she felt the man go limp underneath her. She didn't stop when the man started choking on his own blood. She didn't stop punching him until a strong pair of arms pulled her off of the Coin Man.

She didn't even look who it was but guessed it to be Gareth. She spat on the Coin Man. "Fuck you."

"C'mon doll, let's get you cleaned up." Gareth said to her as they started walking away. "SOMEBODY CLEAN THIS FUCKING SHIT UP." He shouted to the men and held Scarlett close, carrying most of her weight. Her hand was completely numb, her head still hurt from her being knocked out, her stomach and back hurt more and more with every movement, not to mention the big gash on her chest which was still bleeding heavily, and she felt like emptying her insides. The initial shock of being knocked out, disgust and the amount of blood all contributing to the need to throw up.

Scarlett didn't know where he was leading her, she couldn't pay that much attention to her surroundings. Her breaths came irregularly and she was starting to shake, the adrenaline was leaving her body and she was most likely starting to go into shock. Scarlett was in terrible pain. She kept her eyes turned up onto Gareth, who looked pissed off, and tried to time her breathing with his. Scarlett noticed at one point that he said something to someone, but she didn't concentrate enough to figure out what and to who.

Gareth carried her up two flights of stairs and a moment later he placed her onto a soft bed. Scarlett let her body relax as much as she could, though it seemed to her that she only tensed up more. She felt her arm lift, "Jesus fucking Christ, kid. You got him good." Scarlett tried to laugh, but it hurt so much that it came out as a groan. She kept her eyes on Gareth as he examined her hand further. Her eyes began to droop. "Hey. HEY!" Gareth grabbed her shoulders and shook her, not hard but enough to wake her. "I need you to stay awake, you might have a serious concussion."

"Hmm..." Scarlett managed to grumble, trying to hold her eyes open. "How's the hand?" She rasped out, her throat dry. She heard the door open and close.

"Your hand has three teeth lodged in it, the fabric reduced the damage a little bit. Can you move it?" Gareth questioned.

Scarlett tried to will her hand to move, sharp pains shot through it and she groaned out in pain. She saw a figure move next to Gareth but her brain didn't register who it was as she kept her eyes on the elderly man.

Suddenly she felt pressure on her chest and she let out a groan as the pain registered to her. "What the hell?"

Gareth opened the first aid kit and Scarlett's eyes fell closed. Her breathing was steady and she felt her muscles relaxing. Somebody shook her and her eyes opened again. "I'm awake." She dragged the last word out, her voice weak.

"I'll get her water," Gareth said, stood and walked away. The door closing signalled that Gareth wasn't in the room anymore.

She moved her head, trying to see who was pushing down on her chest. Surprise filled her as she saw Vaas. "You did fucking good out there, hermana,"

"Was it you?" Scarlett croaked. "Did you make them...?" She trailed off.

Vaas' eyes flashed. "No."

Vaas kept pressing down on the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. A couple of minutes later he took the rag away, threw it on the ground while grabbing another one from the foot of the bed. As Scarlett eyed Vaas, she realized he was hard to look at, almost like the sun. It's impressive, but you couldn't stare at it. For if you did, it would blind you. She was constantly looking back and forth between his face and the ceiling, as if she was scared of what would happen if Vaas would catch her.

Vaas' eyes roamed over the fresh cut, trying to determine the severity of it.

Scarlett spoke up in a broken voice. "My eyes are up here, asshole."

Vaas barked a laugh and pressed the fresh rag back onto her chest. The door opened and Gareth walked back in. After giving Scarlett a sip of water, the bear-of-a-man sat down. With a pair of forceps Gareth started pulling out the teeth in Scarlett's hand. Then he cut the fabric of the gag away from her hand, being as gentle as his rough hands would allow. "This is going to hurt," Gareth said and placed a piece of brown leather into her mouth, "bite down on it as hard as you can, okay?" Scarlett nodded weakly, her heart speeding up again "Three... Two... One."

Scarlett bit down as hard as possible as sharp pain shot through her arm, all of her muscles tensed so every injury made itself known. Scarlett let out a scream, slightly muffled by the piece of leather as her eyes squeezed shut. Tears started streaming down her face. Again the pain came and she screamed.

"Breathe, doll. Breathe." Gareth commanded her, as she let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding in. When she opened her eyes again, the black spots in her vision were back. Gareth removed the leather. "It was the antiseptic, we can't have you walking around with an infected hand. I'm sorry I hurt you." Gareth wiped the tears from her face as she steadied her breathing. "You want some good news, doll?"

Scarlett managed to nod, the pain now pulsating slowly through her body and the black spots starting to fade away.

"Your hand isn't broken."

Scarlett let out a croak of a laugh. "It's been a while," She swallowed, "A while since I've beat someone like that." She laughed again and her chest and stomach hurt, her left hand immediately went to touch the latter. Although her skin was tender to touch, it provided with a small amount of comfort. "The beauty of guns." She managed to keep her eyes open for a few moments and Gareth gave her pain medicine.

"Hey, hey, hey, you have to stay awake hermana!" Vaas said, shaking her slightly again.

"No." She moaned out the word and shook head. "So tired."

"I know you're tired, but you have to do this. Okay?" Gareth held her eyes with his. "Am I blurry?"

"A little."

"Your head hurts?"

"Yes."

"Do you feel nauseous?"

"Yes."

He asked about a couple more symptoms, and then continued to clean her hand. "Can I sleep now?"

"No. No. Hell no." Gareth said. "You _have to_ stay awake."

Scarlett let out a breath. "Tell me a story." She needed something to focus on. Something to act as a lifeline to reality.

There was a moment of silence. She noticed how Gareth gave Vaas a wary look, "I remember the last time I spoke with your mother." Gareth said quietly and Scarlett's breath hitched, this time not because of the pain. "She spoke of you and Will." Will was Scarlett's father. "She spoke of the day that you were born." He let out a chuckle. "I remember Will before you were born. Damn, he would not say a word more than he had to. Hell he probably wouldn't even say those. According to your mother the first night you were brought home Will sat in the nursery all night on the cold floor. Remember that house? It had those awful stone floors. Anyway, he sat on the floor with his suit on and his hair ruffled... And he told you stories. He told you every single story he knew."

Tears were streaming down Scarlett's face, but she made no move to wipe them. "Your mother heard all of them and she said _that_ was the first time she had ever heard him talk that much. Apparently he told you _everything_. What he did and who he was. He spoke of the things he believed in and the things that he didn't understand. He spoke of how he didn't understand you, but he wanted to. He said... He said that to him, you were a saviour. You were given to Will and your mother to save them. A beacon of light." Gareth sighed.

"And she said that every year, on that night, he would talk to you. When you were older he would start off with reading a book, but when you fell asleep he would pour his soul out to you. He wanted to get out of business, to have a real honest life with you and your ma. Literally the _day_ you were born, we started planning. He didn't want you have a life like this. It funny though. I was there the moment that Will started to feel like a father. Before you were born Will kept telling me that he didn't know how to be a father and he sure as hell didn't feel like he was soon to be one. It was in the evening of the day you were born, I came to the hospital to see your ma and Will. Will kept staring at you," Gareth chuckled and shook his head.

"He loved you so much from the moment you were born, I think the quantity of it terrified him. Anyway, when your ma was holding you. You grabbed Will's finger and I swear to God the man stopped breathing. Ten minutes later we were out in the hallway, planning to end the business for good." Gareth sighed.

"The last time I spoke with your mother she said that you brought out the good in people. I mean, you don't know what Will was like before you were born but god," Gareth laughed. "Stubborn and serious as hell. Anyway, she said you brought out the good in him. The good, the gentle and the kind. I remember one of the first things he did after you were born, was that he removed all of the guns from the house, all of the documents that had anything to do with his work. As if he was making sure the house had no evil in it. Your ma said you took his pain away. That's why she gave you the middle name of Epione. In Greek mythology, if I remember correct, she was the goddess of soothing of pain. She never told Will why she picked the name."

Gareth laughed again, this time so that he didn't even try to contain it. "I was there the first time he held you, you know. Jesus fucking Christ. When the nurse asked him to put you down so they could take you to sleep," He let out a hearty laugh. "I thought he was going to shoot the fucking nurse. Imagine a five year old getting their favourite toy and then a couple of minutes later being asked to give it back. It ended so that you slept in the room with your ma and Will. He scared the shit out of her." He laughed again and Scarlett smiled through her tears, nobody ever spoke about her parents like this, rarely even Gareth. "Where was I? Oh yes, you bring out the good in people. It sounds odd, but it's true. Hell, you even bought out the good in an old fart like me. Your ma said that no matter what happened in life, she wished that you would never lost that ability." He started into the distance for a moment.

"I was supposed to protect you. You weren't supposed to grow up a warrior, mean and cruel. I shouldn't have done this to you and I am so sorry. I should have put you through the best schools, hell we could have moved somewhere else so you could have had that. You could have done anything in this world and you wouldn't have had blood on your hands. I wasn't thinking then. Or maybe I was thinking, but I was thinking the wrong things. I'm sorry I raised you a killer." He stopped talking, his hands has stilled as well.

After a moment of silence. "Is that why you left?"

Scarlett never got her answer, because Gareth changed the subject. "Your hand is wrapped."

Vaas pulled the rag away from her chest, most of the bleeding had stopped. "Monroe will be here in the morning to give you stitches." Not long after the bleeding stopped and Gareth put small strips, of what highly resembled tape, onto her chest wound to hold it as closed as possible.

As promised, the next day Monroe showed up. He first cleaned and stitched her chest wound and then put a couple of stitches onto her right hand. He let her know how to care for the wounds.

"When will I get them off?" She questioned.

Monroe sighed and took a sip of water, it was another hot-as-hell day in the jungle. "Well the hand will probably heal in a week. About five to ten days, I would say. The chest is a whole different thing. Usually chest wounds take a week to two to heal. I'm quite certain that yours is pushing closer to two weeks."

The day after, Scarlett was up and about. Sure, everything still hurt like a bitch but she wasn't going to show it. After she woke up she changed her clothes, cleaned her wounds and put fresh bandages on them. She popped two pain killers into her mouth, downed them with water and headed out.

The pirates averted their eyes as soon as she stepped out, they didn't exactly fear her but they didn't _not_ fear her either. That little episode with Coin Man, whose name turned out to be Felipe, managed to really make them understand that Scarlett was not a person to fuck with. Sure, Vaas had told them that she wasn't to be touched, but now they actually respected that. For the most part anyway.

Hoyt called after Monroe left the day before, asking how Scarlett was settling in. She did note that when she got on the phone, the big boss was almost surprised to hear her voice. She didn't tell him about what happened with Felipe, he didn't need to know because the information had nothing to do with her mission here. The information that Hoyt passed onto her confirmed the fact that she was going to be here longer than she originally thought.

A loud whistle sounded across the camp. "Eey! Hermana! Scarlett!" Vaas' voice came from rather far. Scarlett started to move toward the direction of the voice and soon Vaas came into her view, a cigarette on his lips.

"Can I bum one?" She asked, motioning to the cigarette.

Vaas raised his eyebrows and he glanced back and forth between the cigarette and the woman "Oh no no, those things are bad. A mujer like you should not smoke, this shit causes cancer."

Scarlett merely raised an eyebrow and Vaas pulled the pack out of his pocket. Scarlett quickly grabbed one out of the pack and Vaas lit it for her, she nodded in thanks. Scarlett had quit a while back when she realized what an effect they had on her stamina. Cigarettes were for special occasion only, now they started seeming more like a habit again. "Why did you shout for me?"

A malicious grin rose to Vaas' lips. "Oh yes, I almost forgot." He slung his arm around her shoulders, again his hand threateningly close to her neck. Enough to raise the hairs on her neck and make her worry about her safety. "I have a surprise for you."

"I don't like surprises." That was a lie, Scarlett loved surprises. Though the kind she liked tended to be gifts, surprise parties and the like.

Vaas laughed, "You'll fucking love this one." He was leading her toward the rejects cages and the worry for her safety was going bigger, the only thing that offered her comfort was that her knife was tucked into her boot. She swallowed as she looked at the miserable faces in the cages, each and every one eyeing Vaas like he was the devil. In their eyes, he was.

"Remember, the world you live in today is not the same as it was yesterday. It won't be the same tomorrow. You must _adapt_. You're in the jungle now. The surprise, mujer," Vaas said as he pointed to a wooden pole, identical to the one she was tied to if not the very same, to which Coin Man was tied to. Felipe was almost unrecognisable due to his face being rather swollen and red.

Felipe seemed to spot them from the distance and immediately started screaming, trying to tug the ropes open. Scarlett took a drag from the cigarette and walked forward. Gareth was sitting on a pile of boxes on the side and smiled and waved at Scarlett as she walked up to him.

"Like the surprise?" Vaas wondered with a smile, looking rather proud of himself.

"What the fuck am I supposed to do with this?" She asked.

"STOP FUCKING SCREAMING!" Vaas shouted, who was now halfway between Felipe and Scarlett and Gareth. "You are fucking embarrassing yourself, amigo." He slowly walked toward the man, like a predator stalking a prey. Slow and deliberate movements, he wasn't in a hurry and he didn't need to be. Everything about the way he moved screamed that he was in control and that Felipe wasn't going to get away. Scarlett was glad that she wasn't at the receiving end of that. "What was the first motherfucking thing I told the men?"

When Felipe didn't answer, Vaas pressed a gun to his forehead. "WHAT THE FUCK DID I TELL YOU?" He screamed, making Felipe flinch and turn his face away. "No no no no no. You fucking look me in the fucking eye and tell me WHAT DID I TELL YOU!"

Felipe hesitantly turned his eyes onto Vaas'. "You said..." He stuttered.

"What did I fucking say?" Vaas asked, pressing the gun tighter to Felipe's forehead. "Huh?"

Felipe looked like he was about to cry. "We can't touch her. Y-you said we can't touch her."

Vaas nodded and pulled the gun from Felipe's head. Vaas slowly paced infront of him, waving his gun as he spoke. "And what did you do, hermano? Huh? WHAT THE FUCK DID _YOU DO_?" When Felipe started screaming again, Vaas shot him in the leg. "STOP SCREAMING YOU FUCKING SHITHEAD." He let out a cruel laugh. "SHUT THE FUCK UP. SHUT THE _FUCK _UP. Okay, I'm going to chill hermano. I asked, what did you do?"

"Touched her," Felipe managed to stutter out. "I touched her." He managed to turn his screams into quieter wails of pain.

"Yes, you fucking did." Vaas scratched his head with his gun. "You fucking touched her, even though I specifically asked you fucking not to. _You touched her_! Why? Huh? Did I not make myself fucking clear?" He said, tucking the gun away. "You know. As much as I would like to fucking kill you myself for disobeying orders, hermano." Vaas laughed. "I am dying to see what the mujer will do to you."

Vaas walked toward Scarlett and Gareth. He pulled out a gun from the back of his trousers and held it out to Scarlett. She caught Vaas' eye and the look in them was terrifying. It was a bloodthirsty, crazed and almost manic look. Scarlett took the gun, noting that it was still slightly warm from being in contact with Vaas' skin.

"Have fun," Vaas smirked and gave her a wink. She proceeded to walk toward Felipe as Vaas took a seat next to Gareth and lit up another cigarette.

When Scarlett looked into Felipes eyes, she was surprised to see that he was amused. That moment made her wonder how many peoples, how many hostages, hands had Vaas put a gun in and told them to kill. How many times the hostages had broken down sobbing, unable to do it. Scarlett was sure that there had been many, so she didn't exactly strike fear into his heart. The thing was that she wasn't a hostage and she did not have a problem with killing.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She wondered, her tone casual. Trying to mimic Vaas' body language from before, but she felt like it didn't come off at all. Her torso hurt, so she couldn't straighten it properly, and Vaas always stood his with torso tensed and fairly straight.

Felipe merely laughed. Scarlett walked closer to him. First she tucked Vaas' gun to the back of her jeans and then her hands went to his belt. Felipe smirked. "You know you were right, I do want you." Scarlett turned to look at Gareth and Vaas, who were both visibly confused. She winked at them and then yanked down Felipes pants and smiled at him while grabbing the blade from her boot.

Felipe's face paled immediately and he started shaking his head. "No. No. No. No. Please no!"

Scarlett continued to smile sweetly as she pressed the blade against his family jewels. "What's the matter? You wanted this remember?" She asked. He was crying, hot and fat tears were rolling down his dirty cheeks. She didn't care, she knew if she was to survive here she was going to have to stoop down to their level. "You can never touch a woman or even_ try_ to touch a woman without their consent. _Ever_." She was deadly calm, her eyes boring into his. "Remember that." With a quick flick of her wrist the air was filled with agonized screaming.

Scarlett took a deep breath and turned to walk away. "Leave him there." She commanded and kept walking, she didn't turn to look at Vaas and Gareth. She didn't even look back at Felipe. Regret started seeping into her heart, but other feelings over powered that regret. There was joy and happiness in her, she was content with herself. It was terrifying because she could handle killing, but this was torture.

She threw Felipes dick to the feet of the pirates who were standing close together in a group, speciating the whole ordeal. Scarlett didn't bother to look at them, her point was clear. She heard Vaas' laughter over Felipes screaming.

"Wow!" Vaas exclaimed, dragging out the 'o'.

_You're in the jungle now._

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**A/N: As per usual, please do leave all and any thoughts into the reviews. If you enjoyed it, then add it to your favourites and alerts.**

**Reviews are better than getting your dick cut off.**

**No really, they are.**

**Adiós amigos.**

**-Max**


	4. Chapter 4

****Disclaimer: I do not own anything in my stories except for the ****_fan_**** fiction (including plots, OC's and so on). All the characters belong to the rightful owners. Any songs/poems/etc in my stories do ****_not_**** belong to me unless stated otherwise.****

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**A/N: Hello.**

**Can I just say that I think this chapter is a whole large load of shait?**

**I had massive, and I mean fucking massive, writers block with this one. It was supposed to be so much better because since I started this whole story, this chapter has been the one I had been looking forward to.**

**I finished 80% of it today, so please excuse any and all mistakes for I'm sure there are a lot of them. I haven't really proof read this at all.**

**Also, my chapters seem to be getting shorter and shorter and I don't really like it.**

**I should probably let you guys get on with it...**

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**Chapter 4**

"_**I'm afraid I can't explain myself, sir. Because I am not myself, you see?"**_

"What the hell was that?" Gareth boomed and slammed the door closed behind him. Scarlett's head was pounding already. "Scarlett."

She felt like she was fifteen years old again and he was scolding her for something. "What do you want me to say?" She stood up and put her hands on her hips. "If you want me to say that I am sorry for what I did out there, know that I am not going to. Gareth he tried to _rape_ me. Because of him I will have a nasty-ass fucking scar across my chest for the rest of my life. Also, need I remind you, he tried to fucking rape me!" She shouted.

"Scarlett."

"No!" She kept shouting and Gareth sat down. "You have _no_ right to do this. You have no fucking right to make me feel bad about this, even though I probably should. I mean. Fuck! I just tortured a man, but he fucking deserved it! He fucking deserved it alright!"

"Scarlett!"

"Gareth! I'm not eighteen anymore. You have to let me make my own decisions, because I will make them whether you want to or not. Whether _you_ like them or not." She let out a sigh and sat down next to Gareth. The two fell into silence.

"I figured I could still fix my mistakes." Gareth spoke softly. "I made a promise to your parents. I thought I was fixing it by leaving, I guess not."

"What exactly do you mean?"

"You were going to go off to university, I knew you would professionally take up being a hired gun if I was around. So I figured that if I faked my death, you'd put all of that behind you."

"You could have told me, you know." Scarlett said, wiping the hair off her face. "I wouldn't have listened to you, but you could have still told me."

"I realize that now."

"Plus it's too late. It was too late then." Scarlett shook her head. "I'm not something you can fix, I don't need _fixing_. You never made me a killer, I did that myself."

Gareth shook his head. "But I helped. Concious or unconscious."

"Still not your fault." Scarlett snorted a laugh. "Still not a reason to fake your death." She nudged the man in the ribs with her elbow.

The day passed, Scarlett survived on pain killers. She went up onto the roof at some point, she wasn't sure whose roof it was or was she allowed there or not, but to be honest she didn't care all that much at that point. She had a pair of sunglasses, a bottle of water and she could see most of the camp from where she was.

_Perfect._ Her inner voice commented and self-fived like Barney Stinson from _How I Met Your Mother._

"Fucking nerd," Scarlett said out loud and shook her head. She sat there for hours, seeing how the camp and the pirates in it worked. She noticed how Vaas toyed with the hostages and mercilessly killed the rejects. She watched as Gareth made the men sweat and throw up from working out so hard in the heat. She realized that she didn't even know how Gareth had ended up here or what he was doing here. She made a mental note to ask him later when she went to have dinner.

An hour before the sun set loud music started blasting out from somewhere. Guessing by the direction of it, it came from Turkey Point. Apparently that's what the men called the dining hut. She came to the conclusion that this whole thing, sitting hours upon hours on the roof, had been a waste of time, she was going to reach no conclusions by merely sitting there. Though she did get a good overview of the place, meaning that she doubted that she would be lost in the place again.

In a half an hour she was down from the roof, with a clean bandage across her chest and a full bottle of cool water. When she finally made her way to Turkey Point, the area surrounding it was filled with pirates drinking and eating and dancing to the music. Scarlett noticed that the two hostages that used to hang from the ceiling were removed by now. Her stomach scrunched in worry when she thought of what happened to them. With a lump in her throat she grabbed a plate, got her dinner and a full glass of whisky. Then went to sit down at a table with Gareth.

"Evening, doll."

"Evening, Old Man." She imitated him and dug into her food. While chewing on a piece of potato, she wondered out loud. "Are there showers or something of the like here?"

Gareth nodded. "Yeah, but right now in this heat they don't really work. The men usually go to clean themselves on the beach, _if_ they clean themselves. There's a waterfall nearby though, I can take you there tomorrow. None of the men go there because they're not fucked to walk the distance, plus Vaas doesn't let them use the trucks for shit like that anymore." Gareth laughed.

Scarlett smiled. "Thank you. I feel so fucking sweaty and sticky and greasy. It's disgusting really." She took another bite of her food. "Why can't they use the trucks though?"

"They can use the trucks, but not when they're going to scrub themselves. A while back this one guy drove one of the fucking trucks into a lake. Actually that has happened four or five times in total. That particular time Vaas was making rounds on the main island and happened to be at that camp." Gareth shook his head.

"Making rounds?" She wondered, taking a sip of her whisky.

"Yeah, basically what it is, is that he goes through each outpost on the island. Making sure shit is in order and the sort. It's a shit process and takes a hell of a long time, but it's got to be done."

Scarlett nodded, her fingers playing with the rim of her glass, and after a moment she spoke again. "By the way, you never told me how you ended up here."

Gareth put his fork down, the corners of his mouth pulling down slightly. He was obviously unhappy with the direction of the conversation, but spoke none the less."Well, uh. After dying," he made air-quotes with his fingers when he said the word 'dying', "in Mexico. I went to Switzerland, where I met this rich guy who was planning on making a trip here. Apparently he thought there was treasure hidden on this island by the natives, the Rakyat. He had a whole crew together, except that he was lacking on security. So I offered myself. Legally I was dead and a trip to an unmapped island sounded pretty good." He took a swig of water.

"When we got here, the boat was raided by the pirates. I was the only one who survived, in that matter of speaking. They let the captain and the rich guy live for a while, but neither of them exactly fought back. Vaas was surprised at the fact that I did. He was impressed too, but he won't admit it." Gareth chuckled. "I know he was. Anyway, I managed to cut a deal with him. I went through a couple of... uh, trials. I guess you could call them that."

"Trials?" Scarlett raised her eyebrows in doubt. When she bought her glass to her lips, she noticed that she had drank more than half of it already and it was starting to make her brain fuzzy. Scar had always hated how much of a lightweight she had been.

"I had to fight a bunch of guys on several occasions." Gareth shrugged, brushing it off as nothing, and continued his story. "So I got a spot here. Over time I proved my loyalty and experience, now I'm training the men."

"So you're pretty much the main mercenary?"

"I guess you could say that, yeah." Gareth leaned back in his chair.

In the moment of silence that fell at their table, Scar was able to notice a few things through her tipsy brain. First off that there were several languages spoken at the same time. Smiley was speaking French with two others, different versions of Spanish, Portuguese and what she guessed to be the native language of the island seemed to be popular. She thought she even heard Italian at one point, including many others.

Secondly, how odd it all seemed. Alien, for some reason. How there were so many different kinds of people here. Everyone so different and surprisingly open minded. No one seemed to care where you were from, who you were or what skin colour you had, as long as you could shoot a gun. It seemed odd to her that men who were murderers and who would be called savages anywhere else but on the Rook Islands, were more human than most of the people who ran countries in the rest of the world. She of course realized that she could be wrong, perhaps there were things the men weren't saying about what they thought of one another.

"Did you end up going to university, by the way?" Gareth's voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

Scar looked up and saw Carlos approaching. He wore a white v-neck shirt, the red bandanna loosely around his neck, and jeans and she wanted to slap herself for noticing the dark hair and muscled chest that peaked from his shirt before lifting her eyes up to look at his face. His hair was the most unruly thing she'd ever seen, the brown locks sat in a wild mess atop his head. It made him look like he had been very thoroughly fucked, then again for all she knew he could have been. A strong jawline lined with stubble drew in her eye before she met his gaze.

Quickly, she focused on Gareth again, her cheeks tingeing with pink. Internally cursing the alcohol which was affecting her so strongly. "I did, actually. I was pretty sure that I was not going to go, but Shaun actually pushed me into it." She said and Carlos sat down next to her. "I don't know if you know, but your death got pinned onto The Auzric Brothers."

"Yeah, I heard. Why?" Gareth asked with a hint of hesitation.

She felt like she was six years old and ate the last cookie without Gareth's permission. "I _may_ have killed them."

Gareth raised his eyebrows and his smacked the table. His voice was laced with surprise and humour when he spoke. "You _may_ have killed them?"

Scarlett shrugged. "Eye for an eye."

"That's what you seem to be all about these days." Gareth retorted and Scarlett could feel an argument coming on.

"Hold on," Carlos spoke. "The Auzric Brothers, where have I heard that?"

Gareth lit up a cigarette. "They ran one of the biggest drug cartels in northern Mexico," Gareth chuckled. "How the hell did you manage to take them down? They had more security than the fucking US president."

"A girl has got to have her secrets, no? Though I'll tell you this much, a pair of heels, a short dress and red lipstick helped quite a bit." Scarlett smiled triumphantly.

Gareth groaned. "My God, you were _eighteen_!"

"I was on a _mission_!" She raised her voice a little.

Gareth slammed his fist down on the table, "You weren't supposed to go after anyone in the first place!" He shouted back.

"I thought you _died_! I thought they killed you, Gareth. I had no choice!" Scarlett accused.

"Yes, you did!"

"As did you!" Scarlett snarled, eyes lit up with fury, and Gareth fell silent.

After a moment Carlos cleared his throat while running his hand through his hair, messing it up even more. "By the way Kidd, Vaas wants you to go make rounds tomorrow with Monroe."

"How come?" Gareth asked.

Carlos ran his hands through his hair, pushing it off his face. "A couple of privateers are coming to get hostages to pass onto buyers and you know how Vaas is about the privateers."

Gareth nodded with a sigh. "Alright, can you take Scar down to the waterfall to clean up? I promised I'd do it tomorrow."

"Can't." Carlos lit up a smoke. "I have to head down to Nat's Repairs with Kip, they got attacked and the alarm blew. Sorry."

"Fuck," Gareth muttered.

"Have Vaas take her."

Gareth opened his mouth to say something but then faltered. "That's actually not a bad idea."

Scarlett raised her eyebrow at the older man, wanting to comment but she didn't. Her need to clean herself was too big to actually mind who was going to show her where the waterfall was. Plus, no matter how bad Vaas was, he was still better than Smiley and his kin.

"By the way," Scarlett asked, her hand going up to motion to the commotion surrounding them. "Are we celebrating something?"

Carlos chuckled and shook his head. "Oh no, it's just the guys blowing off steam. Life gets pretty routine and tough, so they need an outlet."

Scarlett raised her eyebrows and down the very last drop of her whisky. "This? _This_ is how they blow off steam?" She was in disbelief. There were a bunch of pirates in a state of drunkenness dancing around to Latin music and singing along.

"Yes," Carlos responded to her, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You expected something different?"

"I figured you'd have... Hookers. Or something." To be honest, Scar didn't even know what she had thought. Perhaps she had thought that the pirates blew off steam by killing people, which seemed like a logical thing.

Carlos' mouth stretched out into a grin, his eyes filling with mischief. "The hookers will come later. Don't worry."

Scarlett nodded, reaching for her glass only to remember it was empty. Little by little the table they were sitting at started filling up. First it was Kip, then a man who she had never met with lightly orange hair and a pair of rectangular glasses. Later on a drunk Vaas, with fresh wounds, joined them as well. Some of the pirates had lit a fire nearby, casting a soft orange glow on everyone.

Scarlett was feeling actually drunk from the alcohol by now and incredibly engrossed in a story that Carlos was telling. She didn't even notice Kip and the ginger man disappear, when she finally did notice, she didn't hesitate to ask about their absence.

"They're probably fucking somewhere like_ conejito_s." Vaas slurred and emptied the label-less bottle in his hand.

Carlos leaned closer towards her, making her skin prickle where his breath hit it. "Translation: bunnies."

"Kip is gay?" She wondered, her voice coming out almost as a shout.

Carlos nodded and Vaas raised his eyebrows. "Why are you so fucking shocked? Huh, mujer." The corners of his mouth pulled into a cocky smirk. "Does Scarlett have a crush?"

"No, I just-"

Vaas cut her off with a loud, drunken laugh. "Don't worry, you'll find someone who isn't gay." With a wink he got up and walked over to the table where the food usually was and grabbed another one of the label-less bottles off of it.

A while later she was sitting on the hand rail that surrounded the Turkey Point deck. A bunch of the pirates were swaying or dancing to the music, a few of them muttered the words. Her eyes soon fixed onto Vaas, who had a bottle in one of his hands and an unrecognisable piece of technology in the other. His hips were subtly, but perfectly shaking along to the music.

It seemed so... Not Vaas. It had been only hours before that she had seen the man toy with the hostages, grazing their cheeks with the barrel of his gun. Taunting them with snide little comments and chuckles. She had seen the small, cruel smirk on his lips as he put bullets into the heads of the rejects.

_She heard a gunshot ringing through the air. Quickly, she made her way up from her spot and climb down from the roof. She headed toward where the sound came from, but with the fear of being spotted by Vaas, she stood in a nook between two houses. Shielding her from view while still being close enough to hear bits and pieces._

_Vaas was standing on top of a platform that consisted of a wooden frame, a crossbeam on two upright beams. With a shaky breath out she recognized it to be the gallows. Four people were kneeling in front of Vaas with their hands tied behind their backs and a fifth already limp of the ground, explaining the gunshot._

_He said something to them, though she couldn't make out what and then shot two more of them. Vaas kneeled in front of one of them and spoke, this time Scar was able to make out a few small bits. "... Nobody wants to pay for you... You are worthless... I see it all the time. People say 'Family is priceless, family is priceless', no no no please. That is fucking bullshit. Family is..." Vaas' voice was washed away by the wind rustling the trees surrounding them, only a whistle he let out carried out to her._

_A second later Vaas was on his feet and shot the person he had been speaking to. The last man, wearing a light blue shirt and a pair of khaki shorts, winced and sobbed. Every inch of Scarlett was screaming for her to go there and stop the maniac, but she knew it would do no good and would only mean her death._

"_Hermano..." Vaas said, pointing the gun to the mans head. "Look me in the eye..." When the man managed to lift his head and make eye contact with Vaas, the Pirate King cocked his head to the side. "I am going to kill you." A fraction of a second later a gunshot rang through the air and a heavy thump a moment later confirmed that the man in the blue shirt was indeed dead._

_Scarlett couldn't tear her eyes away from it, she could barely even blink. Vaas let out a chuckle and eyed all of the dead bodied. "Did you," Another chuckle. "Did you realize that I just shot them all in sequence?" The scarred man looked at the pirates who were scattered around the area._

_She didn't know if any of them said anything, but Vaas spoke up again. "One after the other, I did not do that one purpose." He paced slowly infront of the bodies, back straight like the cock of the walk. "You start to think about the small coincidences in life... Will you clean this fucking shit up?" In a fraction of a second, his voice changed from joking to pissed off. Vaas motioned to the dead bodies and walked off the gallows._

Scarlett shook her head as her eyes were on the Pirate King. She didn't understand him. He was completely calm and joking one moment and then he could kick off and break a few things or kill a few people, and then a few moments later he could be laughing about something completely else. He was impulsive and unstable to a certain extent, yet she couldn't fear him the same way that the hostages and even some of the pirates feared him. It was terrifying, because in the end... what did that say about her?

She sat there for a while, so lost in her own head that she had completely overlooked the arrival of a bunch of women. They were all clad in rags and were bone thin, with sunken faces and wobbly feet. She knew for a fact that the women were under the influence of some stronger drugs. Just before she was going to jump down from the handrail she saw a person lean on the railing next to her. She looked over her shoulder and the first thing she saw was a jagged scar across a mans head.

Vaas.

A moment later he stood up straight and leaned against the railing, so that they were facing the opposite ways. Vaas reeked of alcohol and cigarettes and sweat, though she doubted she smelled any better.

"You know... _Mina_." He trailed a finger on her hand which was resting on the railing. "When you get bored, you know where to find me." He lazily pointed to a house which was in better condition that most around here.

"There are many others who wouldn't mind... wetting your pipe." Scarlett said.

The corner of Vaas' mouth pulled up just a fraction. "I know." He licked his lips and lit up a smoke. "Perhaps te deseo."

Scarlett didn't know what he said, but she still had some alcohol in her system and that made her braver, and more flirty, than usual. "Don't tempt me." She said so quietly that she wasn't sure if Vaas even heard her. "I just might."

She jumped down from the railing and started walking to her room. When she was a good twenty metres away, she made the mistake of looking over her shoulder. Vaas had a cocky half smirk on his lips and when their eyes met he winked at her. Her heart picked up the pace just the tiniest bit, enough scare her. Vaas was the last person she should be attracted to.

**_x_**

Scarlett woke with a massive headache. With a groan she covered her eyes and turned to her side. It was about an hour until she finally decided to get up. Thankfully she had some water in her water bottle. She quickly drowned it and sighed. She looked down at her clothes, they were dirty and sweaty and she was so sick of sleeping in jeans. She thought of it pointless to change them now, she would dirty the clean ones before she can get to the waterfall anyway.

She pulled on her boots, brushed through her greasy hair and pulled it up into a bun. It was better than having it clinging to her face and neck. Right when she got her hair tied there was a knock on the door.

"Yes?" She asked, sliding her hand under her pillow where the knife was.

The door opened and in came a pirate she had seen around the camp a few times. He was, according to Kip, just a foot soldier so I was unlikely to befriend him. "Hello. Vaas says you leave camp, when privateers leave. Two or three hours." The man had a very thick accent.

Scarlett nodded. "Yes, alright."

The man gave her a nod and exited the room. Scarlett lifted the lid off of the box that held all of her belongings. She grabbed out a canvas bag and put shampoo, a towel and some clean clothes into it. When her bag was ready, she headed to Turkey Point. It was almost noon, which meant that she was the only one eating. Also, since breakfast time had passed she only got a few pieces of bread. It wasn't long when a group of five privateers walked through the camp, heading toward the area where they kept the hostages. She recognized one of them, he was the man who had been in the helicopter with her and Hoyt the day she arrived.

_Hector, was it?_ She wondered and kept chewing on her bread. It was only an hour later when the privateers came back with three hostages that Hector saw her. Hectors face when he saw her was the most surprising thing of all. It was a look of complete and utter shock and surprise, as if she was the last person he had expected to see there. Scar's eyebrows pulled together and it made her worry.

Her worry for the moment was short lived, because a very pissed of looking Vaas sat down opposite of her.

Scar eyes her warily. "Morning."

Vaas nodded at her and clearly wasn't bothered with pleasantries. "Ready to go?"

Scar nodded. "Yes, I just need to get a bag."

"You have five minutes, meet me at the trucks."

In about ten minutes the duo was out of the camp and headed down a jungle road. This was the first time Scarlett had been really in the jungle since the day she arrived. So with a deep breath in, she leaned back, fixed the sunglasses on her nose and looked at the sky. A faint smile was present on her lips.

"Why are you smiling?" Vaas' voice broke the silence over the car engine and chirping birds.

Scarlett's smile widened. "Because it's so beautiful."

Vaas let out a humourless chuckle. "It's only beautiful because you don't have to survive in it."

Scar turned to look at him, expecting him to continue speaking.

When Vaas was met with silence, he quickly glanced over to Scar. He skilfully nicked the sunglasses off of her face and slid them on. "The jungle will eat you up alive... You white people come here, you want to live. You want to be _free_. They never last long." He let out another humourless chuckle. He seemed so at ease driving, barely paying attention to the path but not once going off of it. "You come here. You will forget your life before. Soon you forget your fucking name. The jungle strips you of your humanity... You become an animal." He said quietly. "The jungle changes you."

Before Scar could reply, Vaas pulled the truck to a stop and got out. He lit up a cigarette as Scarlett followed him out, and then he hopped onto the hood of the car. When Scarlett was just standing there staring at him, the man spoke up.

"What are you waiting for?" He wondered and peeked over the top of Scarlett's sunglasses.

She wasn't sure, to be completely honest. Scarlett turned to look at the waterfall, it took her breath away. From high above, massive amounts of water were gushing down into a pool. Everything around it seemed so green and fresh and alive. She had taken about five steps toward it when Vaas shouted out to her.

"Oi, a propósito. If you see an alligator, shout for me."

Scar's eyebrows pulled together in confusion. It would have been nice to know about the fact that there were alligators here before she agreed to come. "Wouldn't that just attract their attention?"

"Yes," Vaas sighed, sounding like he was trying to explain physics to a three year old. "But that would also attract my fucking attention." He took in a drag from the cigarette. "That shit will keep you alive."

She raised an eyebrow in disbelief as her hands landed on her hips. "You're going to fight an alligator? Bare handed? For me?"

Vaas merely shrugged and kept smoking his cigarette.

Shaking her head, Scar walked down to the waterfall. She eyed the water for a moment, trying to see if there was anything alive in it. When it seemed safe, she stripped off her shirt. Scar was painfully aware of the fact that Vaas' eyes were most likely on her. Then, with a sigh of relief, she took off her jeans for the first time in days. However, she wasn't going to give the scarred man on the hood of the truck the complete satisfaction of seeing her naked so she headed to the water in her underwear, only taking them off in the water. She washed her hair three times, just to make sure that all of the grease and dirt was out of it, and for a while she just enjoyed the cool water.

Scar chose the moment when Vaas was occupied with the stereo to get to her towel. She quickly dried herself, put on clean clothes and wrapped the towel around her head. After making sure she had all of her things, she headed back to the truck.

"Ready?" Vaas questioned. "Still got your toes? And limbs?"

Scarlett nodded. "I do believe I do."

It seemed like a much shorter trip back to the camp, which in a way was sad because she quite enjoyed the freshness of the jungle. During the ride she took the towel away from her hair and let the wind dry it. It was going to no doubt knot her hair and it would be hell trying to get them out, but at this point she really didn't care.

Vaas pulled the truck to a stop and killed the engine. "By the way, nice tattoo."

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**A/N: Ahh, so much flirty Vaas.**

**Anyways, as per usual. Any and all criticism and ideas and thoughts are welcome.**

**If you wish to keep reading, adding it to favourites and alerts helps.**

**Reviews are better than Carlos' sex hair. (This point can and will be argued.)**

**Adiós amigos.**

**-Max**


	5. Chapter 5

****Disclaimer: I do not own anything in my stories except for the _fan_ fiction (including plots, OC's and so on). All the characters belong to the rightful owners. Any songs/poems/etc in my stories do _not_ belong to me unless stated otherwise.****

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**A/N: Again, shorter than I would like. I'm not even going to make any excuses of why this is late.**

**On the very bottom, I have translated a few things that come up in the story. Or that have come up and what will come up again.**

**This one is sort of a trippy clusterfuck. Not going to lie.**

**Have at it.**

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**Chapter 5**

"**If everybody minded their own business, the world would go around a great deal faster than it does." **

_Vaas walked into the kitchen, grocery bag in hand, quiet singing ringing through the air. It seemed far away, like when the volume of a television was turned down in the room next to you and you couldn't make out the words through the wall, but he knew that it came from her. He was dressed casually in a pair of jeans, a tight flannel shirt and a leather jacket. On his feet were his combat boots, in which he seemed to live._

"_They didn't have the candy you wanted, so I bought chocolate instead. Is that alright, mina?" He looked up from the grocery bag and his eyes landed on the woman, whose back was facing him._

"_Yeah, that's alright." She turned to smile at him over her shoulder. Even though she spoke to him, he still heard her sing at the same time, or maybe he just imagined her singing. He wasn't sure._

_Vaas tugged off his leather jacket and layed it onto a chair, the woman turned around and tilted her head slightly. Her eyes were roaming all over him. "What?" asked Vaas and looked down to check whether he had something on his shirt._

"_God, I love your arms." The woman sighed and smiled at him. Vaas chuckled and walked over to her, heavy footsteps echoed through the room. With each step Vaas saw an alligator appear, one on the kitchen counter, another on the table and so on. He wrapped his arms around the womans waist and paid no mind to the animals._

_Vaas softly placed his lips onto her cheek, at the same time inhaling her scent. He didn't know how to describe it other than soft vanilla, soap and something that was just purely her._

"_Mina, I-" He wanted to say the rest of the sentence. He wanted to say the one tiny word, but he couldn't do it. He felt it, but he could never say the words. They were stuck in his throat with little sharp scalpel edges that would tear him to pieces if he uttered them. She terrified him._

"_I know," she whispered back. He felt her heart beating against his chest. He leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes._

"_So much." Their lips were almost touching and he craved hers._

Vaas opened his eyes. His mouth felt dirty and dry, like he had been eating sand the night before. He rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hands, wondering about the way his heart swelled inside his chest. He felt... weird. An odd feeling was infested inside of him, lingering at the deepest depths of his chest. His mind was blank and he didn't remember any dreams, but there was that feeling.

He rolled over and reached for the bottle of rum on the side of the bed. An all too familiar ache went though his body when he stretched out. It was the aftermath of hours of working, every fucking day and then consuming a healthy amount of alcohol after and during it. Seven days a week, year after year. To be completely honest, he barely even acknowledged it anymore.

The rum Vaas had was shit. It hadn't aged, so it tasted like muddy water that had been poured out of a boot with just a hint of sugary flavour to it. The bottle had been standing next to his bed for God knows how long, weeks maybe. It did nothing to help the taste in his mouth, so he took another big swig. Then the pirate closed his eyes and layed back down. It wasn't even morning yet and the moon was high up in the sky, only crickets serenading to it.

Vaas had taken two breaths before the sound of a gunshot reached his ears. The taste in his mouth forgotten, he was rushing out of the room with all of his guns on him in a matter of seconds. By the time he had pulled his ACE assault rifle from his back, the alarm was blasting out and men were scrambling out of buildings. The Rakyat were storming the camp, coming out of the woods behind where they kept the hostages.

Vaas kept his finger on the trigger, while strings of swears and insults were rolling off of his tongue as fast as the bullets were flying out of his gun. His only interest was killing every Rakyat motherfucker in sight.

Twenty minutes, it took only twenty minutes for Vaas and the pirates to kill every man possible. The pirates who were injured were escorted into a building with Monroe tending to them. Vaas watched as the rest of his men were dragging the bodies of the dead Rakyat to one pile, at the same ridding the bodies of weapons and anything useful.

"It makes no sense, güey" Carlos said in Spanish. "Thirty men in total, give or take." He shook his head. "Citra doesn't even send that little men for a small outpost."

Vaas had a lit cigarette on his lips, "No." He slowly shook his head and blew out smoke. "She's not stupid, she's after something."

"The hostages?" Carlos suggested, his eyes turning to the cages where they held them. He noticed that some of them were open and the people had escaped. "Fuck! This could have been just a distraction to set the hostages loose and then storm the place."

Vaas shook his head. "Not her style. It's all into battle or none." He ran a hand through his mohawk. "Every motherfucker into the forest! Find the fucking hostages! _Now_!" Vaas shouted and the men started running. He took another drag from his cigarette. "Carlos, make sure they find the fuckers. Then bring them to the gallows."

Vaas turned to go back to his house. He slung the ACE over his shoulder and spat. When he got to his room, he took another swig of rum and then went to brush his teeth. When his mouth was feeling minty fresh, he lit up a new cigarette and grabbed the bottle of rum.

The sun was rising over the top of the trees when Vaas was sitting in front of the gallows, with Maccie loyally by his side. He had gotten himself a nice plastic chair and another bottle of rum. He had just had a long briefing session with Kidd and Monroe, not to mention the measly three hours of sleep earlier, made him easily irritable and volatile. The King sat there and waited, the hostages started appearing in front of him one by one. He commanded them to be tied up like pigs.

He heard a whistle but paid no attention to it, only when Kidd was next to him he lifted his chin in the slightest toward the old man.

"Have you seen Scar?" Kidd questioned sounding awfully worried.

Vaas shook his head. "Not since last night," The corner of his mouth pulled up in the slightest.

_Three soft knocks on his door alerted him. His jaw locked and he was ready to shoot whoever the fuck it was. He had had an extremely tiring day, this had been the first time he had sat down since he took Scarlett to the waterfall. Vaas had just taken off his boots and shirt and was in the process of removing his belt and harness._

"_What?" He yelled._

"_It's Scar." Her voice barely sounded through the door and Vaas froze, a small smile starting to play on his lips. All of the anger slowly flowing away._

"_Come in." Vaas shouted, just loud enough for her to hear, and the door opened. Vaas turned around busying himself with unclipping the harness._

_There was a pull between the two that neither of them wanted to admit, but nevertheless was there. Scar completely ignored it and pushed it out of her thoughts, burying it in the corners of her mind, while Vaas passed it off as curiosity. Vaas had never seen a warrior woman quite like her. He had seen many warrior women, his mother was one, as well as his sister and he grew up among them. Scar however, didn't look like a killer. She looked innocent with a wide smile and a twinkle in her eye, but Vaas knew there was much much more to her. He had seen bits and pieces, the night Felipe attacked her and also the night before when Vaas himself shamelessly flirted with her._

_Scar had been silent for a few moments, taken off guard by the fact that there was a half naked man infront of her, who she had to admit was incredibly attractive._

Only physically, only physically._ She tried to convince herself._

"_Are you just going to stand there?" Vaas asked, looking over his shoulder._

_Scar snapped out of it and her cheeks flushed just in the slightest. "Um, I uh."_

"_Are you here to... to... echar un polvo ?"_

_Scars eyebrows lifted. "What?"_

"_To fuck."_

"_No!"_

"_Then what the hell are you doing here at one in the fucking morning?" His eyes roamed over her as he undid his belt. "You have no fucking alcohol, meaning you can't possibly be here to enjoy my wonderful fucking company, eh?" He tossed the belt onto his bed and ran his hand through his mohawk._

_Rolling her eyes she folded her arms across her chest. "I came to borrow a t-shirt."_

"_¿Qué?"_

"_You know, t-shirt. The red thing that is currently missing from your torso." She lazily pointed toward his chest with her hand. "Also you know they make those with sleeves right?" She couldn't help but seize the opportunity to poke a little bit of fun, Vaas seemed to be in a good enough mood._

_Vaas let out a laugh and she felt herself relax, she still wasn't exactly sure when she could joke around him and when she couldn't._

"_Seguro, you can have a shirt. ¿Por qué?" Vaas wondered as he walked to a large wardrobe in the corner of the room and pulled out a red shirt from a drawer._

"_Honestly? I'm tired of sleeping in jeans and none of my shirts are long and loose." She shrugged. I would have asked Gareth, but he's not here so. You were option two."_

_Vaas tossed the shirt to her. "Anything else?" He asked with a wink._

_With a smile and a shake of her head, she said "I'm think I'm alright, thanks." Scar folded the shirt neatly and turned round. She stopped at the door and looked back at him over her shoulder. "Thanks for the shirt."_

"_Sí."_

"Last- What do you mean last night?" Kidd questioned but then shook his head. "Fuck it. There is no time for this, I have to find her."

"Where's the fire, hermano?"

"She's missing, Vaas. No one has seen her since the Rakyat attacked. I thought that maybe she might be with you but..." The bear-of-a-man was nervous, his hands were trembling and he was pacing.

"You think Citra took her." It wasn't a question. Vaas blew out another puff of smoke as his blood started to boil.

**_x_**

Scarlett's hands were tied above her head again, she could only tell because she felt her arms against the sides of her head. After coming back to consciousness she tried to keep her breathing slow and even, as if she were still out cold. She couldn't feel her arms or legs. The last time she was tied up it ended bad for everyone, but this time she wasn't in pain the same way she was then. There was no drunken murmur around her nor anyones hands on her.

She heard footsteps coming toward her and distant chatter.

"I know you are awake," a heavily accented womans voice sounded. Scar recognized the accent to be Rakyat.

Scar opened her eyes and rolled her head back. The woman in front of her was beautiful. Long dreadlocks reached the small of her back and the sides of her head were shaved. She was clad in a leather skirt and a matching top, both embezzled with jewellery. On both of her wrists she wore a ton of bracelets. There were also tattoos, on her chin, on her left bicep, on her left side trickling down to her knee. The native had big green eyes and a perfectly oval face.

Scarlett registered that the two of them were in a small room. The walls were made out of large stones with green substance, most likely moss, growing on them. Pillars were embedded to the corners of the room and as Scar looked up she saw that the ceiling was very high. Vines were hanging from the ceiling down the walls. Straight behind Citra was a stone doorway, on both sides of the doorway were statues with firepits in front of them. Scarletts legs were sprawled out in front of her and she realized she was leaning against a cold wall.

"Who are you? Why am I here?" Scars voice was hoarse and weak.

The woman raised her delicate eyebrows. "You know not who I am?" She seemed surprised.

Scar tried to shake her head, but at least her voice was coming back. "No."

"I am surprised my brother has not spoke of me. I am Citra." She carried an air of authority around her.

"Your brother?"

The woman smiled just in the slightest, but it was not a friendly smile. It was a smile one would give when patronizing a child. "You really know nothing, do you?"

Scarlett was tied up with no sensation in her body, she doubted that anyone was going to be rescuing her and death seemed fairly close. So naturally, she chose this time to be cheeky. "Well I know the formula of Einstein's Theory of Relativity, the first twenty digits of the square root of pie and several metaphysical theories of the philosophical kind, but I doubt that's what you were after."

"I can see why Vaas has let you live this long, you entertain him."

The air of authority and the mohawk-esqe hair made sense now. "You are Vaas' sister." Scar remarked, more to herself than anyone else. With any luck, Vaas' sister was going to be just as batshit crazy as him.

Citra smiled. "Yes." The beautiful woman walked closer to Scarlett and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"You never answered my question, why am I here?"

"I wanted to meet you." Citra said. "Is it strange that I want to meet my brothers new girlfriend?"

Scarlett's mouth fell slightly open. "I am not!"

"Why else would you be wearing his shirt?"

_A loud band woke Scarlett and she immediately recognised it as gunfire. She quickly scrambled out of bed, pulled her jeans on and ran out the building. All of the pirates were armed and shooting at tattooed men who seemed to be coming in from the forest- She scanned the rooftops and her eyes landed on a dead sniper. She quickly ran to the building, climbed the ladder on the side of it and took a hold of the gun. The man who was there was an awful sight. He bad been shot both in the chest and the head._

_Scarlett turned her head away and opted to breathe through her mouth. She layed onto her stomach, lining the scope with her eye. She lined the gun up with a person and pulled the trigger, then she repeated the same action five times. Just after the moment that she pulled the trigger, she noticed a man running toward Smiley from behind. Scarlett quickly lined up the sniper and took a shot, just as Smiley had turned around to face the attacker._

_In a moment of confusion Smiley looked around, eventually when his eyes settled onto Scarlett a wide grin stretched across his face. Not his usual disturbing grin, but one which was full of gratitude. Scarlett gave him a quick wave and Smiley was off to battle again._

"I borrowed it from him." Scarlett said matter-of-factly.

"Please, do not take me for an idiot." Citra shook her head in disappointment. "You wouldn't survive in Vaas' camp unless you were under his protection and the only way you'd be under his protection is if you are involved with him."

"Are you going to kill me?"

"You ask a lot of questions." Citra noted.

"Well you have put me in a position where I must." Scar retorted.

Citra nodded slightly. "It seems I have. And no, I will not kill you yet, but you will die."

"Why is that?"

"I want you to know what Vaas is really like. I want you to see him for the monster that he is." Fury was laced in her voice as she faced in front of Scarlett. "Also, I want to know more about you, get to know pretty white girl. I want to know why do you love him."

Scarlett shook her head and remembered a quote. "We make our own monsters, then fear them for what they show us about ourselves."

Citra slapped Scar with the back of her hand. "Know your place. You know nothing."

The biting pain in her cheek made her unable to speak for a moment, actually the surprise of the slap did and not so much the pain. "No, I don't. Only because nobody has agreed to tell me."

"Once, long ago." Citra began. "There was a lotus pond filled with clean water. The bank composed of smooth sand and the smell" Citra breathed in and closed her eyes, as if she was actually smelling it, "of blossoms moved the air. But a giant," she threw up her arms for emphasis. "lived beneath the pond's surface, devouring any who came to its edge. A warrior, from the northern kingdoms, heard of the giant and vowed to slay him." Her fingers trailed the tattoos on her body. "He painted tatau on his body and took power from the land of the dead. When he was ready, he walked the path to the lotus pond. And the giant rose from still waters, the Warrior raised his dagger. He cut the giant's head clean off its body. The skull of the giant fell to Earth and became our island..." She motioned around her and then placed both of her hands on her chest. "The descendants of the Warrior became the Rakyat, our people."

"Now a new giant has risen. Hoyt Volker lured my brother away with money and drugs. Power. Vaas left the tribe, his birth right. He became a monster." Citra said with anger. "Vaas was supposed to be the perfect warrior, but he did not walk to the end of his path. He didn't achieve his destiny." Citra shook her head. "And now he cannot return."

Citra turned her eyes onto Scarlett and then shouted something in the native language. A heavily tattooed man walked in and in his hands was a small tray. When the man placed the tray next to Scarletts legs she saw that a single syringe was on it.

"What is that?"

"Something to help you talk. You do not seem to like to share things," Citra kneeled and picked up the syringe. "It will open the darkest pits of your mind."

Citra injected the liquid into Scarletts neck and then left the room. As she walked away Scars vision started blurring and her ears were ringing.

Her hands came loose and fell into her lap with a thump. She got up and followed Citra.

"You know the necklace Vaas has? The green one, carved out of mountain jade." Citras voice asked, but she was nowhere in sight. Instead, Scarlett was walking down the path into Vaas' camp. "It was our mothers originally. Then she gave it to me to give to whom I will. I gave it to my brother." The jungle around her was on fire and there were human heads just above ground, all of them dead. Some had visible wounds, some not. "It used to be in the shape of a twist. The single twist represents the joining together of two people."

On the path infront of her were Scarletts mother and father. It was when Scarlett was small because they were both so young. Scarlett remembered this vaguely. Scarletts father looked sharp in a black tailored suit, with his hair gelled and set. Her mother held her stomach with her left hand and the other was on her fathers cheek. Scarlett looked at them both with wide eyes, this was just before they were killed. Scarlett ran toward her mother, panicking.

_Scarlett. _Her mother said, but her mouth didn't move. _Come say bye to daddy, he'll be gone for a couple of days._

_Dad. _Scarlett said automatically.

_Do not worry, Letty. I will be back, but until then you have to help mummy with the baby. Alright? _Her father smiled and his brown eyes lit up with joy.

Scarlett tried to scream but no sound came out of her. Both of her parents vanished into thin air and when she looked down she saw their dead bodies both surrounded by blood. Her mother was couched over, hands on her stomach. Her father stared emptily and all joy had gone out of his eyes.

"Even though sometimes people move away, their journey of life will have their paths cross again. The single figure eight represents the path of life, it is the eternity symbol." Citras voice sounded again and Scarlett saw Gareth. He was younger too, his eyes bloodshot as he extended his hand out to Scarlett.

"The necklace broke when he left. I know not if he broke it or it broke itself."

Vaas' hysterical laugher came from next to her, she looked left and right but there was no one there. She turned her eyes forward again and there stood Vaas. Citra came up behind him, wrapping her slender arms around his torso. The native woman then locked eyes with Scarlett and a fire burned in them. Citra turned her head slightly, while keeping her eyes locked with Scarlett, and said something to Vaas in a language Scarlett didn't understand. Vaas looked different, he was clad in clothes made out of leather. The wound on his head was fresh, with blood still trickling down his eyebrow.

"Vaas murdered my father. Vaas deserted his people. He is a traitor of the worst kind and I will kill him one day." Citras voice was all around her, but it wasn't the same Citra who stood with Vaas. Scarlett was now walking down a stone road, though she was still in Vaas' camp. A warm light made Citra glow gold.

Goosebumps rose on the back of Scarletts neck, raising small hairs. Vaas charged toward her with a big, beautifully carved, knife in his hand. Just before Vaas reached her, he vanished.

"Why are you with him? What do you see in him?" Citra questioned and Scarlett walked forward. She tried to answer, but no voice left her.

_Do not worry, Letty. I will come back._ Her fathers assuring voice rang in her ears and he appeared infront of her. His eyes staring into hers and tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Why?" Citra demanded and a veil of fire blazed up infont of Scarlett, leaving her father behind it.

"I am not with him!" Scarlett shouted. It felt like a dam broke inside of her, words were flying out of her mouth faster than she could understand what she was saying. She only stopped a while later when she noticed commotion around her. Vaas' pirates were shooting Rakyat soldiers.

"Hola, bitchachos!" Vaas shouted. The shooting stopped and all of them men dissolved into ash, leaving the ground coated with red powder.

"Vaas, why are you in my temple?" Citras voice echoed.

Scarlett tried to scream but the dam had closed and no sound came out of her. Her heart started racing and she could feel the blood pumping through her veins. Her breathing was erratic because she could feel Vaas and Citra somewhere close to her, but fire had surrounded her. The heat was burning her skin and she couldn't see.

"Because fuck you, that's why!" Vaas laughed.

Scarlett tried to shout his name, she tried to shout for help but the more she tried the higher the flames grew and the hotter they got.

"Where is she?"

"Who?" Citra questioned and the flames started backing away from Scarlett.

"Please do not waste my fucking time. Okay, bitch? Give her to me or I will have two-hundred and thirty-fucking-seven men storm this temple right fucking now. All they are waiting for is my command. My fucking say so. So where is she?"

Scarlett fell onto her knees coughing, even though the fire had retreated the smoke from it was filling her lungs.

"You would not do it."

"Wouldn't I?"

"You must really love her."

"Where. The fuck. Is she?"

It felt like a cold bucket of ice was dumped onto her and she cried out. She felt someone touch her, or rather pick her up but she was still suffocating on the ground.

"Vaas..." Scar tried to shout. "Gareth!" No response. "Father!"

"Jesus motherfucking Christ, you drugged her? Is that any way to treat a fucking guest, Citra?" Vaas' voice echoed. Scarletts blood felt cold and she couldn't stop coughing. "I would kill you but my hands are full. Don't try to kill us on the way, it won't fucking work."

The sound of a car engine was close by and Scarlett tried to get up and run. She managed to get up but the circle of fire was drawing closer again. She tried to see if there was any gap in the fire, but there wasn't.

"He is a traitor. Dia adalah seorang pembunuh." Citras voice echoed around Scarlett. "No one man should have all that power."

The fire was slowly drawing closer. Smoke filled up inside the circle and Scarlett turned her eyes toward the sky. She saw a Giant rise from the borders of the fire. It was the same Giant, the same Ink Monster that became the island. Tall and black was it's figure, with a red mask of a face and fiery yellow eyes.

"Don't go anywhere," Vaas chuckled. "I'll find something that will help. I'll check for fucking tigers before I go."

The Giant opened his mouth and exhaled a massive blueish-purple flame from its mouth, drowning Scarlett in it. Everything went dark and her breathing was wheezing, trying to get enough oxygen to keep her alive. She felt her body twitching and hitting a cold hard surface. Pain radiated from everywhere and the heat from the circle of flames, now drowned and mixed with the Giants flame, licked her skin. She screamed on top of her lungs and her body shook and tears rolled down her cheeks. She felt like she was being burned alive.

"Arotahi i runga i toku reo. Arotahi, wahine taitamariki."

* * *

**A/N: Aye, so. Translation things. Also these are probably not correct because I used Google Translator to do this, but I needed the dramatic flare so sue me.**

**AND! Correct me if I'm wrong. No seriously. Do.**

**_Güey._ (Sometimes spelled "Guey", usually pronounced as "Way") - Basically means "Bro" or "Dude". [Mexican Spanish slang]**

**_Mujer._ \- Woman. [Spanish]**

**_Mina._ \- Woman (Straight translation: Mine). [Argentinian Spanish... slang?]**

**_Seguro._ \- Sure [Spanish]**

**_Dia adalah seorang pembunuh._ \- He is (was?) a murderer. [Indonesian]**

**_Arotahi i runga i toku reo. Arotahi, wahine taitamariki._ \- Focus on my voice. Focus, young woman. [Maori]**

**I think that was it? Maybe. If there is anything else, then let me know. I'm sure I missed some.**

**This isn't actually a translation, but since I fell in love with this phase (blame, AC:IV), I can't remember if it was in this one of the one before, but it _will_ come up again.**

**_Cock of the walk_ \- Big man in town, the greatest.**

**As per usual, review, alert... post it to tumblr? Twitter? Whatever floats your boat.**

**Oh, I almost forgot since this has become a habit...**

**Reviews are better than Citra drugging you.**

**Adiós amigos.**

**-Max**


	6. Chapter 6

****Disclaimer: I do not own anything in my stories except for the _fan_ fiction (including plots, OC's and so on). All the characters belong to the rightful owners. Any songs/poems/etc in my stories do _not_ belong to me unless stated otherwise.****

* * *

**A/N: Hello again.**

**It has been a bit longer than I would like, but that's okay.**

**Now this chapter is getting closer to the length that I fancy.**

**Translations are on the bottom, and there will be a few other important-ish notes.**

**Get cracking.**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**She generally gave herself very good advice, (though she very seldom followed it).**

With a heavy sigh Vaas stepped out of the jeep and slammed the door closed, his eyes scanning the forest. This was the last place Vaas wanted to be. Hidden between the trees was the entrance to a Rakyat temple. His home, or at least the place he grew up.

Vaas pulled a small bag of white powder out of his pocket, took some of the substance onto the tip of his blade and snorted it. What he was about to do was idiotic, extremely idiotic.

"We d_on't have enough ammo to storm the place, we cant risk open war. So I'll go alone. Alright?" Kidd suggested._

_Vaas shook his head, whatever plan the old man had in mind it wouldn't work. "You will be dead before you reach the fucking stairs." _

_Kidd was nervous and furious. "Then what the hell do you suggest? We can't leave her there!"_

_Vaas said nothing._

_This only fuelled Kidd's anger. "We are not fucking leaving her, Vaas! Scarlett is family, the only family I have."_

_Vaas laughed and shook his head. "You are angry Kidd. You, are angry. I get that. I get it." Vaas took a big swig from a whisky bottle. "I mean without family who the fuck are we? There was a time when I would do anything for my sister." Another swig. "You see the thing about our loved ones, right, our fucking loved ones. They come and they blindside you every fucking time."_

_Kidd resisted the urge to roll his eyes, he was getting impatient with his boss. "Vaas, we have to go get her! Plus I think Hoyt might not be very happy to hear of her death."_

_Vaas cocked his head to the side a bit._

"_Think about it." Kidd continued. "Scar must have paid him a shit-ton of money to hide here. Hoyt knows that Scar makes real fucking high profile kills, so she might need to hide again. You wouldn't want to rob Hoyt from that possible amount of money and risk angering him, am I right?" It was far fetched, Kidd knew, but it seemed to work._

_With a heavy sigh, Vaas spoke. "I have to go."_

"_I'm coming with you."_

"_No." Vaas shook his head. "Citra will take it as an act of war, I have to go alone."_

As he walked toward the temple, two men standing guard pointed their guns at him. Vaas held up his hand, showing a grenade in it and shook his head.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Vaas spoke in the native language.

He had no problem with speaking it usually. The only person he absolutely refused to speak it to was Citra. Usually that wasn't much of a problem because he perhaps saw her once a year, if even that.

"Hola, bitchachos!" Vaas shouted as he casually strolled into the temple.

He hated this place more than anything. He knew every corner, every rock and every piece of dirt in here. Memories flooded his mind as he looked around.

"Vaas, why are you in my temple?" Citra shouted, coming out into the main courtyard. The Rakyat men, now noticing him all pulled their guns up, pointing them at him.

"Because fuck you, that's why!" Vaas laughed, shaking his head. "Where is she?"

"Who?" Citra questioned, tilting her head to the side.

Vaas sighed. "Please do not waste my fucking time. Okay, bitch? Give her to me or I will have two-hundred and thirty-fucking-seven men storm this temple right fucking now." He grabbed his walkie-talkie from his belt. "All they are waiting for is my command. My fucking say so. So where is she?" This, of course, was a lie. However Vaas knew that Citra wouldn't risk an attack on the temple.

"You would not do it." Citra said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Wouldn't I?" Vaas smiled. Citra had never been good at calling his bluffs.

A moment later Citra motioned her men to lower their guns. "You must really love her."

Vaas' eyebrows shot up just a little bit and then he realized, _that's_ why she had taken Scarlett. Citra never liked when Vaas had girlfriends, or any sort of crushes. Vaas's smile grew. "Where. The Fuck. Is she?"

Citra turned around and walked away, Vaas followed her. Citra held Scarlett in one of the small rooms not far from the entrance of the temple. Before Vaas stepped through the doorway, he heard Scar murmur, "Vaas...Gareth. Father."

Scarlett was sitting on the ground, her arms tied above her head. She was dirty and bloody, the stitches on her chest had opened, he could tell because there was a little bit of blood seeping through the shirt. _His_ shirt.

_Fuck_, Vaas thought.

Scarlett was murmuring things, twitching and shaking. All the while hitting her head against the stone wall. "Jesus motherfucking Christ, you drugged her?" Vaas wasn't surprised, Citra had always liked to poison things. He walked over to her, took his knife out and sliced the rope holding her hands. "Is that any way to treat a fucking guest, Citra?" Her hands fell down lifelessly, Vaas caught her before her whole body fell onto the cold floor.

He picked her up and Scarlett knotted her hands in his shirt, the one _he_ was wearing, all the while muttering about a fire. He walked out of the room back out to the courtyard, before he made his exit he spoke. "I would kill you but my hands are full." Motioning to the shaking Scarlett in his arms. "Don't try to kill us on the way, it won't fucking work."

He strolled out of the temple, leaving behind a bunch of confused Rakyats, looking at Citra in disbelief. It was raining heavily, soaking both Vaas and Scarlett in a matter of moments. Vaas put Scarlett into the passenger seat and then got in himself, when he turned the key music started blasting out of the speakers. As he sped away from the temple, he bobbed his head along to the beat, he couldn't help but think that taking a roofless car had been a mistake. As they drove the wind picked up, violently throwing around the tops of the trees.

Scarlett screamed and Vaas glanced over. She was scratching at her face, her eyes were squeezed tightly shut, then she scratched her arms. "No, no, no, no, no." Her breathing was erratic.

Scarlett was dying.

Vaas lit up a cigarette, which got soaked by the rain immediately, as they drove along the shore. The sea was at turmoil, which worried Vaas in the slightest. Before they reached the river that flowed through Bad Town into the sea, the car started to give out grey smoke.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Vaas swore as the car pulled to a stop. "Fucking hell!" He pulled the key out if the ignition and got out of the car. He popped open the hood, on first look there was enough damage that he wouldn't be able to fix it right now. He didn't even have the necessary parts. He took his walkie-talkie, but there was no sound. Not even static. A radio tower nearby must've gotten damaged.

He stood there for a moment, weighing his options which there were several of. He could go to Bad Town and take shelter there, but there were more than a few people there who wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet into his head upon seeing him. Usually he didn't have a problem with that, but he had a dying girl with him, so going to Bad Town was out.

Vaas knew there was an outpost, Tequila Sunrise, near by, but not near enough. It was more likely that they would get killed, by the weather or by animals, before they reached it. So that was out.

There was a cave a little bit back down the road where they could take shelter, but as long as Vaas had known about it, it had always been infested with alligators. He had better things to worry about than getting eaten, so that was out.

Swearing, Vaas slammed the hood of the car back down. Scanning the trees, he remembered that there was an old army bunker there, dating back to World War II when the Japanese occupied the island. The bunker was closer than Tequila Sunrise, but still far. So far it seemed like the best option, so Vaas opted it was their best chance.

Working fast, he opened the trunk. He grabbed an old plastic bag, filled it up with the things they might need, including a knife, a few water bottles and of course alcohol, among others. He started walking with Scarlett over his shoulder and the plastic bag in hand.

About an hour later Vaas reached the bunker. His legs were burning and he was tired. The storm made being outside hell in itself, so constantly going up a hill was very tricky. He set Scarlett down next to the door, dropping the bag in her lap. He then pulled out his gun and went to check if any animal had decided to take shelter from the storm here.

When the place was empty, he carried Scarlett further inside. Laying her on the ground, he saw she was still trying to tear at her skin all the while muttering. He took a long drink from one of the bottles of rum and then set it back into the bag. He was so fucking tired.

"Don't go anywhere," Vaas said to Scarlett and then chuckled, realizing his pun. "I'll find something that will help." He stood up and started walking. Before he left the room he turned around, taken slightly off guard when he saw Scarlett looking at him. "I'll check for fucking tigers before I go."

Vaas walked out of the bunker back into the rain and thunder rumbled in the sky. He looked toward the direction of Tequila Sunrise and with a sigh he started walking in the opposite direction.

_x_

Scarlett gasped in a deep breath as her eyes flew open. She felt like she had been underwater and has just broken the surface. Her heart was drumming and her breathing turned erratic. She felt dizzy and nauseous. She felt like she couldn't get enough oxygen into her lungs.

"Marino, wahine taitamariki. Marino. Inumia." A voice, deep enough to shake the earth itself, was speaking to her. "Drink."

There was a wooden bowl placed into her hands and she quickly drowned the bitter liquid in it. She started coughing as she finished off the last of it. She looked up from the bowl.

The man infront of her had a wide nose and a strong jaw, covered with a neatly trimmed beard. His dark eyes were half closed, he almost looked bored, and sat under thick, mean looking brows. The set of his mouth and the look in his eyes gave away that he was wise beyond his years. His hair was in dreadlocks which reached his muscular shoulders. A red long strip of scarf-like fabric was wrapped around his head and his neck, finally falling on his shoulders. He wore no top, but a pair of leather shorts and a black wrap around his waist. He had a necklace with all sorts of different rocks on it, big silver earrings hung from his ears and he had many more pieces of jewellery around his wrists and biceps.

"You will live, wahine taitamariki." The mans voice was heavily accented and very deep, it sounded almost nonhuman.

It felt like her insides were burning and her body shook as the aftermath of drinking the liquid. She leaned back down to where she was laying before. Her body was on a cold stone floor, but her head hit something warmer and higher up from the ground. "What...?" Her throat hurt as she spoke, she turned her head slightly. She saw a smirking Vaas and realized her head was in his lap. "How... But..." She coughed. "Citra."

"You look like shit, white cookie." Vaas exclaimed.

Scar felt sick and sat up again, leaning her head between her knees. She felt like she was going to empty her insides.

"Koe e rongoa. Kikokiko me te wairua." The man said. "Lift up your head."

Scarlett did as she was told, she didn't know who this man was and why he was feeding her weird liquids but she didn't care. She wasn't tied up and Vaas' sister wasn't here, so her chances of living were better than before.

The man leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, by instinct she did the same. The man started saying something in a completely different language to which he had been speaking before.

"You will live," The man repeated his words. "It will get worse, before it gets better." He spoke slowly and carefully, making sure he pronounced the words as well as possible.

Scarlett nodded. "Your name?"

The man did not smile, but his eyes turned warm. "Dalle Wombe."

Scarlett gave him a small smile despite her nausea. "Scarlett Vincent. And thank you."

"Rest. Focus on reality, do not let the poison in you drag you deeper."

Scarletts heart-rate picked up again. "Poison?"

Dalle nodded his head. "I have done all I can. I must take my leave." The man stood up, he was taller and much more muscular than he had seemed when she was crouching down. He said a few last words to Vaas and handed him a bowl.

Scarlett felt like she was going to throw up again, her mouth was filling with saliva and her throat felt like it was clogging up. Her head was spinning. She took deep breaths through her mouth.

"You really do look like shit," Vaas said in a matter-of-fact voice.

Scarlett coughed. "Thanks..." She was going to continue but she broke out in a violent coughing fit. "What the fuck did she give me? What did _he_ give me?"

"Citra poisoned you." Vaas said and Scarlett squeezed her eyes shut.

Her body was shaking, as if it was trying to tear itself apart. That's when the pain began. Scarlett screamed, her hands flying to her throat. She felt like she couldn't breathe.

_I'm going to die_, Scarlett thought in panic, repeating the sentence over and over again.

"You're not going to die as long as you don't give into the poison." Vaas said, when she said nothing he grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her around so she was facing him. He looked deep into her eyes before he spoke, "Scarlett, you will hallucinate. Citra's poison will tempt you, you must not fucking let go. Okay, hermana, I need you to focus on reality."

Cold sweat had covered her face, she was pale and shivering but she felt like she was on fire. "How?" It seemed to her like Vaas' eyes were glowing, brighter and brighter as she kept staring.

"Fight it." Vaas said.

When Vaas blinked his pupils changed into a cat-like shape. Scarletts mouth fell open just the slightest bit.

"Fuck me." She muttered in disbelief.

Her breathing quickened as did her heart rate. Shaking her head, she tried to avoid his eyes but she couldn't.

Everything turned black.

_x_

"Hey! Wake up." A familiar voice said. "Wake up, you fuck!"

Scarlett was cold again, shivering. Her head was elevated from the ground, like the first time she came about. She groaned as she opened her eyes.

"What the...?" She murmured, her hand going to her throbbing head. When she opened her eyes she could see blurry outlines of concrete walls, a stubbly jaw and on her right was... The stubbly jaw moved, distracting her, and Scarlett shifted her attention. Her hand immediately shot up and her fingertips touched the dark hairs.

Vaas grabbed her wrist, pulling her hand away from his face. Scarlett struggled with her hand as she tried to move her hand back, her fingers stretching toward his jaw, but Vaas' grip was strong enough that her hand didn't move at all.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Vaas demanded, and took a swig of something in a bottle.

Scarlett was quiet for a while, it took her a few moments to understand that he was indeed speaking to her. "You... You have blood in your beard."

"And?" Vaas asked, he was pretty sure that it was rare that he _didn't_ have blood in his beard. Or anywhere really.

"And it's fuzzy."

He swore in a language she didn't speak and leaned his head back against the wall. Vaas let go of her wrist, making her arm topple onto her chest.

"Vaas." Scarlett spoke. "Why is my head in your lap?" She paused. "I think I can hear colours." She poked his thigh with her index finger, feeling the amount of muscle underneath his jeans. "You have muscly legs."

Vaas grabbed her hand once more, with a sigh he spoke, "Your head is on my lap because you wouldn't stop hitting on the fucking floor. And I swear to the fucking Heavens if you poke me one more fucking time, I will cut off your motherfucking fingers." He paused, his mouth going into a hard line. "And _muscly_ is not a fucking word."

Scarlett frowned. "You're mean."

Vaas leaned his head back and let out a breath. "Tired." He took a long drink from a bottle.

A few minutes later Scarlett spoke again. "How do you do it? How do you live with the knowing that you've killed?" When Vaas didn't answer, she spoke again. "Do you ever feel remorse? Do you ever regret it?"

"A little hypocritical of you, no? You murder too, you should know."

"Yes, but the people I murder deserve it." She poked his thigh again, this time softer. "Your victims are innocent, for the most part. Tourists and stuff..."

"No." Vaas said.

"No what?"

He sighed. "No, I don't regret it. I don't feel bad."

Scar was looking at him but her eyes started unfocusing slowly. "Me neither. I mean, first two... three kills. Yeah then. But no... Perhaps because I have good outlets for all of that now." Her eyes focused again. "Your outlet seems to be more murder."

This woke curiosity in Vaas. "Outlets?"

Scarlett nodded and her mouth curled into a small smirk. "Yeah. Sex, for one." Vaas opened his mouth to speak, but Scar kept talking. "Sex is great. Given your partner is good, y'know?" She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Do you know what pisses me off?"

"What?" Vaas took the bait, amused.

"When people say sex is a sin and that it's dirty. Like... Go fuck yourself. Those people just haven't been fucked properly." She felt like she was spinning. "Excluding asexuals and the like, but y'know. Sex is great. And it's only dirty when it's done right. Am I right? Of course I'm right."

Vaas was incredibly amused at the woman's rant, true she was only ranting because Citra had poisoned her in an attempt to extract information and eventually kill her, but it was amusing none the less.

"I think we would have great sex." Scarlett said, opening her eyes.

"We?"

"Yes, we. You and I. Us." She dragged out the 's' in 'us'. "Jesus fucking Christ, you're not that big of an idiot."

Her insulting him woke anger in him and his lips pressed into a tight line, but the topic they were at was far more rewarding than shouting and swearing at her. At least that's what he told himself.

"Do you? You've thought about having sex with me, huh?" Vaas asked, his hands still balled into fists.

Scar trailed her nail on the bottom of Vaas' jawline. This time Vaas didn't move her hand away. "Not sex per se, but close. I know you have, otherwise you wouldn't be so fucking suggestive all the time. Anyway, I think we will have good sex."

"Will?" Vaas didn't even bother hiding his smirk.

"We'll end up having sex at one point or another." Scarlett nodded, her eyes were closed again. "I mean, half or your pirate buddies think were fucking already so... Have you ever raped anyone?"

"No." It was the truth, he hadn't.

"Yeah, we'll definitely fuck." She said, putting an end to the conversation.

Scarlett looked away from the Pirate King, her eyes finding something that she had not seen in a long time. Her mouth fell open, her hand reached out, but stopped millimetres before they would touch skin.

"Mum?"

The last time Scarlett had seen her mother in front of her was when she was five years old. A sob broke from her chest. Her mother was beautiful, with shoulder length brown hair, brown eyes. Scarlett was a spitting image of her mother. Vaas looked down at the sound of her crying and realized that Scarlett was hallucinating.

"Scarlett, what ever you see it's not real."

Scar shook her head. "No." She didn't want to believe it, her mother looked so real. She _had to_ be real.

"Remember what I said." Vaas spoke, but he sounded like he was far away. "Focus on reality."

Tears were rolling down her cheeks when her mother spoke. "It hurts darling, doesn't it." Her eyes were sad and Scarlett nodded vigorously. "Come with me and I will take the pain away."

Scarlett clamped her hand over her mouth, trying to hold in the sobs. She wasn't sure what hurt more, the pain from the poison and the antidote or the fact that her mother was there.

"You father will be happy to see you too." She spoke again, she sounded like an angel. Her voice clean and ringing through the air.

"Scarlett, talk to me."

Scarlett took a deep breath, her eyes still glued to her mother. "It's my mum." When she started talking, she felt like she couldn't stop. "Her name is Antonia Penelope. She's so beautiful and she sounds like an angel. I... I don't remember much about her, nor my dad. They died when I was five." She started to reach out for her but Vaas caught her hand.

"Don't give into the poison," Vaas said and Scarlett didn't give any indication that she had heard him, only her arm relaxed.

"She played piano, she was really good too. She was so kind and selfless, it's not a wonder my dad loved her. My God she is beautiful. I wish... I hate it that she wasn't there while I was growing up. I didn't have a mum, I only had Gareth."

Scarlett wanted to go to her mother so bad, Scar wanted to hug her and know what she smelled like. She wanted to know her favourite colour and her favourite song, she wanted to hear her play the piano again. She wanted to have a Christmas with her parents.

"I love her so much, even though she wasn't there." She paused. "Why can't I go with her?"

"You will die."

Scarletts lower lip trembled. Dying to be with her parents seemed a good option.

"Are you coming, darling?" Her mother asked her.

As more tears rolled down her cheeks, Scarlett slowly shook her head. "I have work to do, mum." She squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head away, she didn't open her eyes.

_She's not real, Scarlett. She's not real._ Her inner voice reminded her.

It was a while before she spoke to Vaas again, her eyes still closed."Citra said you killed your father."

"_Her_ father," Vaas said and the smell of cigarette smoke filled the air. "I killed _her_ father."

"Why?"

Vaas hesitated, he didn't want to open himself to her. Yet he was strangely tempted to do exactly that. Perhaps he was just _that_ tired. "She asked me to."

"But she said-"

"Yeah, Citra does that. She is a wolf dressed like a sheep." Vaas said and Scar wiped the last of her tears away.

"Did you know you father?"

Vaas shook his head. "No." He lit up another cigarette. "He was an Argentinian pirate, who ended up on the island for a couple of weeks. Him and mother fell in love. After he left mother found out she was pregnant and said it was from her fiancée, the leader of the Rakyat." He paused. "When I was fifteen, the leader of the Rakyat, the man who I believe to be my father found out. I didn't look like him anyway. Mother came to me and told the whole story. The leader killed mother, I wasn't in the camp when he did it. Then Citra convinced me to kill the leader... and I fucking did."

Scarlett kept staring at him, focusing on him as he spoke, because if she didn't she would start to focus on her hallucinations.

"The thing, about our loved ones is that they fucking blindside you any chance they fucking get. My sister is a crazy fucking bitch. If I had known that then my life would have been so much fucking easier." Vaas shook his head. "I will kill her, I will put a bullet into her pretty little head for all of the fucking shit she had done."

She never had siblings herself so sibling rivalry was fairly foreign to her. She was certain this this however was far beyond any basic sibling bickering. As Scarlett focused on her breathing, she couldn't help but wonder if this was all a dream. Perhaps she was knocked out during the Rakyat attack... Perhaps she was still in bed and there had been no attack at all. She wondered why she had come on this island. She would have been fine without the money, she just got greedy. It seemed too good to be true anyway, a half a million dollars for an easy job. It turned out to be the compete opposite. She had been cut, beaten, poisoned and tied up and she had close to none of the information she needed.

"Why don't you have any tattoos?" She blurted out. "The rest of the Rakyat do."

Vaas took a swig from a bottle. "I was going to have. The Rakyat start getting tataus after they make their first kill. For the boys there is a ceremony at fifteen, the girls can participate if they wish. After you come back to the camp, you get a tatau. Then you will get tataus based on age and achievements. I did the ritual, when we got back to the camp... This was after he killed mother, we got back to the camp and I was seen unfit to receive a tatau." Unconsciously Vaas' hand went to the jagged scar along his head, his fingertips trailing it back and forth.

"Is that how you got the scar?"

Vaas didn't say anything, instead he picked up the bowl from the ground. He gave Scarlett a little nudge with his knee, he took her arm and helped her sit up. "Drink."

"Again?"

"It will knock you out for a moment, but after that you should be back to normal. You might experience a bit of memory loss, nothing permanent."

Scarlett, with shaky hands, grabbed the bowl from his hand. She made the mistake of smelling it before she drank it, which made her want to throw up.

_One, Two... Three._ She counted in her head and gulped down the whole bowl. Having swallowed the last of it, she dropped the bowl and coughed violently. It was burning her way down into her stomach, much like alcohol but the burn was different. She felt her torso getting heavier and her breaths came in slower. She tried to form words but her lips felt glued shut.

Everything turned black... Again.

_x_

Shaking. That's what Scarlett felt.

A moment later she opened her eyes and a blurry figure was in front of her.

Shaking.

"What?" She spoke, or at least she thought she did.

Her mind was fuzzy and it hurt. It felt like she was waking up to a hangover. She tried to make her eyes focus but it didn't work. Taking deep breaths, she tried to remember.

Flashes of Citra and a temple came back. Then a room with concentrate walls... Vaas' stubby jaw. Confused, she tried to push her brain to remember more but she couldn't.

"What the hell?" She spoke, this time definitely out loud.

The shaking stopped.

"Can you remember anything?" The blurry shaped asked, Scar recognised the Spanish laced voice as Vaas'.

Slowly, her eyes focused. "I... I... There was a temple and Citra... your sister." She looked around. The room she remembered, with the concentrate walls, was the one she was in right now. "I... Where are we? What the hell is going on?"

"You'll remember everything in a couple of hours." Vaas stood up and Scarlett sat up against the wall, head in her hands. "Long story fucking short, Citra poisoned you. I rescued you. We got caught in a storm, you got an antidote."

None of it seemed it familiar. Scarlett's eyebrows pulled together. "Where are we?" Looking at the concentrate walls, it seemed like a bunker of some sort.

"A bunker built by the Japanese during World War II." Vaas said, grabbing a bottle from the floor and heading for the door.

"The Japanese?" Scarlett stood up, wavering slightly, but able to follow him. She was shivering slightly, she was cold and damp clothes clung to her skin. "I honestly know nothing of this place do I?"

Vaas was leaning against a doorway, looking at the rain. He shrugged, but said nothing.

"How long are we going to be here and wha-"

"Jesus! Hermana!" Vaas spoke, his voice louder than when he normally spoke. "You ask a lot of motherfucking questions. Please, shut the fuck up."

"I just-"

"No." Vaas looked over his shoulder. "Shut up. Listen to me, okay? Hmm?" He turned around and took a swig of whatever he was drinking. "The clouds are thinning, the storm should calm down soon. We'll be able to make to Tequila Sunrise by then."

"Te-" Scarlett was cut off.

"An outpost." Vaas said, slowly walking toward her. Scarlett only now, in better light, noticed the tired stance his shoulders had and the dark circles under his eyes. His eyes roamed her up and down, and mouth circled into a smirk slowly, and Scarlett recognised that as a sign that his mood had done a 180. "You might want to get out of those wet clothes." Vaas said, "Don't want you to catch a fucking cold, do we?"

Scarlett rolled her eyes while turning her head to the side, at the same shaking her head in disbelief. She folded her arms, the goosebumps on them giving away how cold she really was. Vaas' eyes travelled from her eyes to the hollow behind her ear, briefly wondering if that was her sweet spot, then down her neckline. Scarlett was in fact a remarkably beautiful woman. Vaas' eyes snapped back to hers when she spoke.

"Stop trying to intimidate me." She hissed, holding her chin high while she tried not to squirm under the intensity of his gaze.

"But I get such enjoyment out of it." He stepped closer, trapping her against the wall. She could feel the heat of his body in their close proximity, but she refused to break eye contact.

"I wish you'd stop."

"Why?" He breathed, tilting his head to the side slightly.

"I don't like it." Scar said, in a rather matter-of-fact voice, trying to sound convincing. Her breathing becoming heavier and heavier.

The corner of Vaas' mouth pulled up in a crooked grin, his eyes burning. "Liar." Vaas knew that she didn't remember the things that had come out of her mouth not long ago, but she would. She would also remember this. The tip of his tongue darted out and wet his lower lip. "Voy a hacerte gritar, cariño."

She narrowed her eyes slightly and swallowed. "What does that mean?"

"It means I will make you scream, mina."

The static from a walkie-talkie broke the moment between them. When Vaas turned from her she let out a sigh of relief, however there was a part of her, a part which she refused to acknowledge, craved the heat from his body.

_It's just because you're freezing your ass off._ She tried to convince herself. _It it's just that._

It turned out that the storm had indeed knocked out one of the radio towers, but as soon as it was back up again Vaas was able to notify his men of their location. When the storm had calmed down enough, two pirates came to get them. It felt like in no time to Scarlett that they were walking off the small boat that took them to Vaas' private island.

Gareth had been worried sick. As soon as the vehicle stopped, the passenger side door opened and Gareth pulled her into a bear hug. Gareth said a 'Thank you' to Vaas, to which Scarlett didn't hear an answer.

After a quick trip to Monroe, she was all stitched up and checked out. Gareth escorted her tired frame into her room and she climbed under the covers. She managed to shimmy off her jeans before her body relaxed into the uncomfortable mattress, which at that point felt like heaven. Scarletts breathing was heavy. It seemed like days she was there, staring at the ceiling. She did not know if it was day or night, she felt exhausted but she could not fall asleep. She stayed in a a half conscious state, until she finally dozed off.

_x_

Scarlett was completely mortified. She had woken during some point of the night with the moon still high in the sky. Sadly by that time, she remembered every single word that had come out of her mouth since she got the antidote to the poison Citra had injected into her.

_Perhaps I could pretend not to remember_, she played with the thought as she layed awake on her bed.

She didn't know how long she was awake for, but she snapped out of her thoughts when she heard someone walking, with what she logically assumed to be some sort of a stereo, and blasting out loud electronic music.

It was an hour perhaps, after that when she decided to go after the music. Figuring it was Kip, because he was the only one who blasted that genre, or music in general, without a party and it definitely didn't sound like a party out there.

She changed into her jeans and threw on a clean tank top, making a mental note to ask Gareth about the laundry system here.

She walked through the deserted camp. It was eerie at night, with only a few men up and about. They silently eyed her from their rooftops as she passed by. Scarlett wrapped her arms around herself as the harsh chill of the night made itself known. She ended up in the middle of the camp, finally finding where the music was coming from. It was coming from the biggest warehouse in the whole camp.

However instead of finding Kip, she found Vaas. The scarred man stood next to a big piece of broken off metal, it almost three times and high as him and perhaps five times as wide, with his back facing the warehouse entrance. Moonlight was shining through the holes in the ceiling, though he had made a barrel into a fire pit casting a soft orange glow over the place. The fire pit reminded Scarlett of Citras temple and goosebumps, that had nothing to do with the chilly air, rose on her skin.

Vaas was surrounded by three dozen buckets of paint, and upon a second look Scar realized that he was painting the large piece of metal in front of him. The Pirate King was splattered with paint and blood. His lips held a half gone cigarette and his head bobbed along to the electric beat.

"Hey." Scarlett said, in the moment of silence when the song changed.

Vaas looked over his shoulder and lazily waved at her with a paintbrush. "What the fuck you doing here?"

She shrugged. "I thought you were Kip." A moment later Scarlett walked toward him, stopping at a table which was covered with paint buckets. "I didn't think you were the artistic kind."

Vaas turned around and switched the bucket in his hand. Scarlett caught his eyes and his pupils were smaller than she had ever seen. Her lips parted in shock as she realized that Vaas was on some hard drugs.

"You're high."

Vaas' eyebrows shot up in surprise. He looked at her like two dicks had just grown out of her head. "_Mina_, you have never seen me sober."

"Never?" Scarlett was shocked. "Honestly not once."

"Never." Vaas shook his head.

_x_

She'd had some rum and a few cigarettes. The two had been hanging out for a few hours. Scarlett found out that she had been asleep for a solid 24 hours. She'd also found out that Vaas only painted when he couldn't sleep, and also that he didn't sleep very often and when he did he only slept a few hours.

Scarlett sat on the table, handing Vaas different paints and giving her opinion on the piece. At certain points she even got up to take the paintbrush from him and paint herself, when he didn't catch onto the idea of what she meant and suggested.

The slight buzz from the rum made even her bob along to the electronic music, that she never was fond of. Nothing was spoken between them about what happened in the bunker, though the memories burned both of their minds.

"Fucking hell, I need to kill someone." Vaas' hands were twitching and he drew back the glass of liquid in his hands.

Scar took that as her cue to get the fuck out of there. "I'll leave you to that."

"Wait a fucking moment mina." Vaas said and grabbed a hold of her elbow, spinning her around to face him.

Before she could register anything else, Vaas had pulled her lips onto his. His hand was twisted in her hair at the nape of her neck, the other went to her waist to pull her into him. By instinct one of her hands went to his chest, the other to the back of his neck and she raised onto her tiptoes.

He kissed her like he was a starving man and she was food - ravenous, almost ferocious. His rough lips moved with skill and Scarlett, by instinct, responded to him. It felt like her soul was on fire, her senses heightened and pure, raw lust was coursing through her veins. When Vaas' tongue entered her mouth she let out an involuntary moan and as a response his hand tightened on her waist, crushing her tightly against his hard chest.

He tasted like cigarettes and rum. A shiver ripped it way though her spine as the tips of Vaas' fingers slipped underneath her tank top and touched a silver of a skin on her back. Both of Scars arms went around Vaas' neck, but all too soon he pulled away.

Her knees were weak and if she were able to focus on anything else than his lips and how they felt, she would have been thankful that his hand was on her waist because otherwise she wouldn't be standing up. She was out of breath and panting slightly, when she opened her eyes she saw a smirking Vaas.

He winked at her, pulled out his handgun and strolled out of the warehouse like the cock of the walk, while shouting something about rejects.

The reality of what just happened came crashing down to her.

She couldn't believe that she had let him kiss her, albeit that it was pretty much one of the best kisses of her life... if not _the_ best, but she would never admit that. It bought up every single kind of attraction she had felt, that she had tried to bury.

She was losing control and that scared her. She wasn't good with things she couldn't control. She had to have a good amount of control in every aspect of her life, mostly her work and partners. This contract with Hoyt was nothing like she had ever done before. Usually she just put a bullet into someone after having a couple of drinks with the victim. She had gotten distracted and lost control, her curiosity toward Vaas being one of the main causes.

Anger started boiling in her and she grabbed a bucket of paint and threw it all onto the large slab of metal, leaving a red streak throughout Vaas' painting and pretty much ruining it.

"Fuck you, Montenegro."

* * *

**A/N:**

**_Marino, wahine taitamariki. Marino. Inumia. - _Calm, young woman. Calm. Drink. [Maori]**

**_Koe e rongoa. Kikokiko me te wairua._ \- You will heal. Flesh and the spirit (soul). [Maori]**

**If the translations are wrong (I'd be surprised if they're right), then feel free to message me about it.**

**What else did I have to talk about? Oh yes.**

**The bunker that they were in is the one where you get Swinji's Letter (Co-ordinates - X:784,6 Y:746,8).**

**Another thing. I made an 8tracks playlist for Vaas and Scar (Who have been given the ship name of 'Vaaslett' by a certain group of people). The link is on my profile, because once upon a time you couldn't put links here and I'm not bothered to see if you can now or not.**

**Last thing, I hope. Is that is anyone at all interested to see ScarxVaas AU's?**

**Review. Add to favourites and alerts. And again, review.**

**Reviews are definitely not better than kissing Vaas, but we'll have to get by.**

**Adiós amigos.**

**-Max**


	7. Chapter 7

****Disclaimer: I do not own anything in my stories except for the _fan_ fiction (including plots, OC's and so on). All the characters belong to the rightful owners. Any songs/poems/etc in my stories do _not_ belong to me unless stated otherwise.****

* * *

**Hello.**

**Well this is a little bit awkward... And trust me that I am fully aware that it has been almost two months since the last one. And I also realize that you're probably expecting this chapter to be better than what it actually is.**

**Things will start to happen soon enough, I just need to lay down some ground work before.**

**Oh God I hate fillers, but you've gotta have them!**

**(Also a massive thank you for those who have reviewed. Seriously, reviews make my days and motivate me to write.)**

**Anyway, enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**"We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."  
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.  
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here." **

"You're going to have to start helping out around here, y'know." Gareth said, while munching on a piece of bread. It was breakfast time and Scarlett was sitting at the table, rather on edge about seeing Vaas. "The men are starting to get restless about you. You eat their food, smoke their cigarettes and you don't do anything to help out."

Scarlett nodded in understanding. "Yeah, of course." She took a sip of water, it was going to be a hot-as-hell day today. It was still quite early in the morning, and already now she was sweating. "Who do you need dead?"

Gareth chuckled and shook his head. "Oh no, Vaas is not having any of that. I think you'll be able to help Monroe out with the wounded guys for now."

Scarlett nodded slowly, trying to decide whether to ask Gareth about Vaas or not. "Okay. So I'm playing nurse."

"Pretty much. If something more up you alley pops up I'll let you know though."

"Yeah, thanks. Although I have no medical background, you do realize that?"

"Yes, but I doubt that will be a problem. Just do what Monroe says and you should be good."

"Fair enough, I suppose." Scarlett licked her lips. "Um, where is he anyway? Vaas I mean."

Gareth's eyebrows shot up a little, the corners of his mouth pulling down just the slightest. "He's not here. He left hours ago... A situation on mainland needed his attention."

Scarlett nodded, a small sense of disappointment washing through her. She turned her gaze down to examine her water glass to avoid Gareth's eyes, knowing that there was very little chance that Gareth knew about the kiss. And even if he did it shouldn't matter, but there was still a part of her that wanted him not to know.

"Listen kid," Gareth started and rubbed the back of his neck. "If you need anyone to talk to about what happened with Cirta... You know you can come to me right?"

She lifted her eyes and saw Gareth's filled with worry. "I know." She nodded slowly. However Scarlett knew that the only person she could talk to about this was Vaas, who was missing in action. "Do you know what went down between Vaas and Citra?"

Gareth shrugged and lit up a cigarette. "No clue. Vaas doesn't talk about it. I do know that they didn't part of friendly terms."

Scarlett let out a very unladylike snort. "No shit."

"Carlos might know. Scratch that, he probably does know, but I can't promise you'll get anything out of him." He said while scratching the back of his head.

"What's the story with those two huh? Carlos and Vaas."

"As far as I know the two go way back. I guess that also explains why Carlos is the only one who's throat Vaas doesn't rip out when he says something that Vaas isn't particularly fond of." Gareth shrugged. "Carlos is from Mexico and used to be one of Hoyt's top men. He didn't get along with most of the privateers though, so him and Vaas started working together. You should ask Carlos himself."

"Is Carlos around?" She questioned, drinking the last of her water.

"He should be back this afternoon. If I see him I'll tell him to find you?"

Scarlett shook her head. "That's okay, I can find him on my own."

After a moment of silence, Gareth put out the butt of his cigarette and then spoke. "Can I ask, what... What did Cirta do to you? Now, you don't have to tell me... I just- The things that I have heard about her... According to all of that you should be dead."

Memories of the stone room covered in vines flooded her mind. The fire pits. The wild woman and the story of the Giant and the Warrior. The delirium that the poison brought on. Her parents, so young and full of life. Her stomach twisted because it all had looked so real.

"I _should_ be dead... Citra poisoned me. Vaas... he saved my life." She swallowed, she knew she should have mentioned Dalle Wombe, but she didn't.

The Old Man frowned. "He did, did he?"

Scarlett nodded. "If I was to ask Vaas about what happened between him and his sister, do you think he would tell me?"

"I don't know, he might. Vaas has never been keen of sharing his past with anyone, although I have a funny feeling you might be an exception." Gareth shrugged. "Listen. I know I have no power over anything you do, you've made that extremely clear. But..." He sighed heavily and Scarlett stayed silent, waiting for him to continue. "But I really wish you wouldn't get close to him. Vaas is a dangerous man." Scarlett opened her mouth to interrupt, but Gareth lifted up his hand. "Please. Let me finish. I know you're going to say that there is nothing there, but kid, I'm not blind. I see the way he looks at you and well, in return the way you look at him."

"The way he looks at me? How does he look at me?" Scarlett was slightly confused. She was aware of Vaas' looks, the teasing and the tension between them. But all of that was shared, more or less, in private. "How do I look at _him_?" It dawned on her that perhaps she wasn't as good at concealing things as she had thought.

Gareth smiled slightly, shook his head and sighed. "Ah, forget about it. Just take my advice into consideration, alright?

_X_

"So you're a doctor?" Scarlett asked Monroe, her head tilted and fingers carefully wrapped around the pile of bandaids that Monroe handed her.

Monroe shot her a quick look and his Scottish accent rang through the quiet room. "More or less. Why are ye so interested?"

Scarlett shrugged. "I'm here for the foreseeable future, so I figured it won't hurt to get to know people... And I like stories."

Monroe didn't look convinced. "Not the mindset of most of the people here. People usually avoid getting personal, yknow. Especially in yer line of work."

Scarlett shook her head with a small smile. "I guess I'm not like a lot of people then."

Monroe let out a chuckle and took a bandaid from her hands. "I was a medic when I was in the British Army. Didn't last long, me military service I mean. Five months, just about exactly. So aye I am a doctor."

"How come so little?" Scarlett's eyebrows pulled together. "If you don't mind me asking."

"Naw." Monroe rubbed his beard and once again Scarlett's eyes were drawn to the Glasgow Smile on the mans face. Every single time she was around him she tried not to stare, it was the same with Vaas. "It ended in a court martial because I was involved in pro-IRA activity." He motioned for Scarlett to follow as he crossed the room. "Anyway, ever since I was a wee lad, I wanted to join an MC in Ireland. Me da had been a part of it."

"MC?" Scarlett interrupted to clarify. "Motorcycle Club?"

"Aye." Monroe nodded. "I became a prospect almost right after I got back from the army. Even though I wasn't a full member I became the clubs medic. The previous medic got shot right in the heart, so they needed me." He clarified. " Eventually I was patched in, quicker than usually but I proved me loyalty."

"It sound's like you were happy." Scarlett said, taking note of the faint smile on the mans lips.

Monroe nodded, his smile growing. "Aye, I was." He rinsed his hands with some water and then rummaged through a small shelf.

Scarlett kept prying. "What about wife and kids?"

"Aye," Monroe admitted. "I had a wife, we were going to have a wee one as well but she was killed when she was four months pregnant."

"I'm so sorry..." Scarlett said, she knew she didn't really have anything to be sorry about but she couldn't help but say it. "I mean... I..."

"I know. And me too." Monroe stated, but then smiled. "She was amazing though. I have never met a stronger woman, honestly. She was absolutely brilliant. Our relationship though, it was what it was. We were too different but too alike at the same time." He chuckled. "We were either fighting or fucking. Don't get me wrong, there _was_ a lot in between the two. I was addicted to her. After she died, I made some pretty bad decisions. Both when it came to meself and the club." Monroe looked over then, to see if Scarlett was listening.

She was.

"Anyway. I was stripped of the patch and exiled. I wasn't allow to show me face anywhere around the MC, even different charters, nor the city. A couple of years later I found meself here."

"I keep wondering about this." Scarlett started. "How _do_ you end up here? I mean, in general. A lot of the people who I have seen here are pretty international and from such different backgrounds, that it's hard to imagine. I mean this place isn't even on the map. "

Monroe motioned for Scarlett to follow and he walked out of the door into the blazing hot heat. He lit up a cigarette and offered Scarlett one as well, which she gladly took. "Well for me it was through an old MC member, who had been exiled as well. I met him in Mexico and he was heading out here so I joined him. I have no clue how the lad found out about this place." He took a deep drag from the cigarette, his eyes scanning around.

"And that man, he's still alive?"

Monroe nodded. "Aye, he's at another outpost. In the one where I was originally, but when Carlos found out about me medical history I was pulled here. Safer, not a lot but enough."

"Was he Irish?"

Monroes eyebrows pulled together and he turned to look at Scar. "Aye. What about it?"

_Fuck._ "Oh no, nothing really. I'm just trying to figure out how many different nationalities you have together here." Scarlett shrugged and tried to play it cool, while taking a drag of her cigarette. She knew she shouldn't have pushed it. "From what I've noticed you have Spaniards, Frenchmen, Argentinians... People from Scotland," Scarlett motioned to Monroe with her hand. "Ireland." She shook her head. "Yet everything seems to be in it's odd harmony."

"There are conflicts every now and again, of course. They are mostly resolved in fist fights or football games."

Scarlett laughed. "I shouldn't be all that surprised, should I?"

"Probably not." Monroe chuckled and put out the cigarette. "Back to work. How are yer stitches by the way?"

Scarletts hand automatically went to her chest, where the mark of Coin Man was going to be for forever. "The bandage is dirty and the wound probably needs cleaning, I forgot to do it before." She put out her cigarette and followed Monroe back inside.

"And the hands."

"Quite good, actually. Healing surprisingly quickly." Scarlett said, inspecting the scabs on her knuckles. Carefully pulling at the edges of them with her short nails.

"Don't pick the scabs!" Monroe exclaimed when he looked at her and Scar immediately pulled her fingers away, while looking incredibly sheepish. It felt like she had been caught with her hand in a cookie jar. "Jesus lass, ye'r almost as bad as Vaas."

She froze for a second and her eyes widened just a little. "Like Vaas?" She managed to say. "How come?" She damned herself for the reaction she seemed to have just to his fucking name.

_Unbelievable, it's like 6__rd__ grade._ Her inner voice noted.

"The man is allergic to scabs, I swear to all that is holy." Monroe chuckled. "Every scab, no matter how tiny, he bloody rips off. The lad knows it will leave a bigger scar and it'll take longer to heal."

"I'll try to be good, in that case." Scarlett couldn't help the humour in her voice.

Monroe turned to her. "I'll change the bandage and clean the wound, after that I'll show ye Ashers painkiller sizes."

Scarlett sat onto one of the chairs in the room and pulled the neckline of her shirt down so Monroe could pull the dirty bandage off. "So how do you operate? I mean, do you go to the main island to treat people or do they come here?"

"Depends." Monroe said, his eyes and hand focused on her wound. "Bit of both really. When someone gets shot and all of that jazz, I go out." Scarlett hissed in pain when Monroe cleaned the wound. "When after that I'd prefer to keep an eye on the lad, then I'll bring him here." The Scot grabbed a new bandage and carefully put it over her wound. "When it's healed a bit more, ye could leave the bandage off for the night. It'd do it good to get some air. Just don't sleep on yer stomach."

Scarlett nodded. "Okay, thanks you."

Monroe grabbed a small bottle off the shelf and a bottle of water. He then held the smaller bottle up so she could see. "Morphine. Each tablet contains 5 milligrams. Ash," he paused to point to the far corner of the room. The bed which was furthest from the door, in the back corner of the room held a sleeping man with a brown sheet draped over his bottom half and a white t-shirt on the top. "at this point needs about 20-25 milligrams of it every four hours."

"And I'm the one who has to tend to him." Scarlett guessed.

Monroe nodded. "Aye, it gives me more leeway. Because it could very well be that in an hour I'll be on mainland and all the other men have other shit to do."

"Fair enough."

Monroe then motioned for her to follow as he walked toward Asher. From a distance Scarlett guessed him to be somewhere between twenty five and thirty five. He had tanned skin and blonde hair, with a little bit of a stubble on his chin.

"Hey," Monroe called and let out a whistle. "Ash!"

The sleeping figure grumbled and turned his head. Monroe shoved the man in the shoulder, which caused the man to come to conciousness.

"What'd ya want, dude?" The man questioned while rubbing his eyes and yawning. A second later Scarlett was staring into the clearest blue eyes she had ever seen.

"Time for medicine, lad."

The man pulled himself up on the bed so that he was leaning against the wall. "You must be Scarlett." He said with a wide smile.

Scar recognised him to be an American, probably from California. "Scarlett Vincent. I'm surprised you've heard of me."

The man let out a laugh. "Of course I've heard of you. You're the who cut off Felipes dick!"

Monroe cleared his throat and Scar turned her attention to him. The Scot handed the bottle to Asher and then spoke. "Make sure he doesn't take them all at once, keep a good half a minute between each. Just in case." Monroe started handing the pills to Asher one by one. "If he's drowsy or dizzy he's fine. Same goes for stomach pains, nausea, vomiting, headaches, overall tiredness, anxiety or mild itching. They're just small side effects." Scarlett started to make a mental list of all of the things Monroe said. "However if the lads heart-rate slows or speeds up, for that matter, if he gets chest pain, shallow and weak breathing, extreme drowsiness and him feeling like he might pass out, let me know. And don't let him go anywhere near alcohol."

"Alright." Scarlett nodded, going over the list in hear head while hoping she'd remember them all.

"Remember, every four hours. Leave a dosage for him for the night in case he needs it, but usually he sleeps through the night fine."

"What do I have to do for you to let me take my own medicine, man? You know I won't chug them down at one." Asher chuckled, popping another morphine tablet into his mouth and washing it down with water.

"Get to the point where ye don't need to take medicine." Monroe said and then turned to Scarlett, pulling out an extra walkie-talkie from his belt. "Emergencies only."

Scarlett nodded, wrapping her fingers around the dented black device. "Emergencies only." She confirmed.

Monroe ran her by a couple of other things that she would regularly have to start doing, like keeping note of all of the medicine that goes out, briefing her on the amount of medicine that goes to each outpost and when the pick-up dates are. The only long term resident there was Asher, so Scarlett didn't have to watch out for any of the other men who were currently in the beds.

Sometime after lunch, Scarlett returned to the so called hospital quarters. She picked up the morphine bottle, took the right amount of pills into her palm and grabbed a water bottle. Asher wasn't asleep this time, instead he was flipping through a book.

"What are you reading?" Scarlett asked as she sat down on the chair next to the bed.

Asher put his book down and slid himself up on the bed. Then he took the water bottle and the first pill from Scarlett's palm. He swallowed the pill and drank a bit of water, however before he even attempted to reach for the next one he showed Scar the cover of the book.

"It's Peter Pan."

Scarlett let out an involuntary laugh. "Peter Pan." She repeated. "I did not expect that."

Asher smiled and shrugged. "Yeah well. It's rarely that you get book here, it's even rarer when they're half decent. Kip managed to pull this out for me the last raid."

"Peter Pan is quite good, I don't remember much of the book but the movie where... Um.." Scarlett handed him another morphine tablet. "Robin Williams played Peter. I can't for the life of me remember..."

"You mean _Hook!_" Asher said, drowning the pill. "Oh I loved that movie!" He pulled the open water bottle to his lips like a microphone and quoted the movie. "Good Mooooooooooooorning, Neverland! Tie down the main mast, mateys, 'cause here he is, the cunning kingfish, the bad barracuda! A man so deep, he's almost unfathomable. A man so quick, he's even fast... asleep!"

Scarlett burst out laughing at his facial expressions that went with the little speech.

"Thank you! Now, let's give him a very big hand, 'cause he's only got one. I give you, the steel-handed stingray, Captain James Hook!" Asher pointed to a sleeping pirate on a bed further away.

Scarlett looked over her shoulder, "I don't think he's qualified enough to be Hook." she said and handed Asher more morphine.

"True," Asher admitted. "I think Vaas is more up for the part."

"And I'm guessing you would be Peter in that case?"

Asher shrugged. "If I don't have to wear tights then I might actually up for it."

"What, too many to wear tights?" Scarlett giggled, imagining the blonde man in tights.

"Ah, well yes." He said, nodding and then tossed the brown sheet acting as a blanket off of his legs, keeping his private parts covered. "Also, tights would be painful as fuck."

A gasp of shock escaped Scarlett's lips when she saw Ashers leg. The left leg had wounds, both cuts and what resembled burns, continued all the way from his foot to under the sheet. It looked brutal and painful.

"Holy fuck! What happened?" Scarlett asked as Asher adjusted the sheet so that it left the wounded leg out in the open.

"Small roadside bomb," He shrugged. "Not too bad, just hurts like hell. Also, I'm sorry. I should have warned you, but the pain from the sheet got pretty bad." He smiled apologetically and continued. "I kept it covered up so you wouldn't freak."

"Why would you care if I freaked out?" Scarlett asked and handed him another morphine pill. There was one left in her palm.

"Because you're beautiful." Asher admitted with a smile and Scarlett couldn't help but to crack a smile and raiser her eyebrows. "I didn't want to scare you off. Plus! There is no one on this island who is really good to look at when having a conversation. Now don't get me wrong, Monroe is a handsome man. And have you _seen_ Carlos!?" Asher fanned himself with his hand. "But when you don't swing that way, you don't swing that way."

"True that." Scarlett admitted, giving Asher the last morphine tablet.

"I haven't formally introduced myself, I'm Asher Wilkins." The smiling man extended his hand out and Scarlett shook it.

"Very pleased to meet you Asher."

"Ash, please." He said. "Asher makes me feel like my father. Old."

Scarlett tilted her head and smirked. "Well, you're what. Pushing thirty five, forty?" She joked, knowing that there was no way in hell that he was forty.

Ash's mouth fell open and his hand went to his chest. "Oh how you wound me, beautiful." He then chuckled. "What are you, fifteen?"

"Sixteen and a half!" Scarlett corrected with a smile.

"Oh I am terribly sorry." Ash laughed. "Where are you from? I'm guessing you're European."

Scarlett shrugged. "Here and there, but yeah Europe."

"You know I could just ask Gareth right? I mean, you are his... step daughter?"

She shrugged. "Ask away if you must. What about you though, California?"

"Actually an army brat, but yeah. I'm from Cali. What gave it away?" Ash smiled, nodding.

That man's wide smile was contagious. "The hair, I think. The fact you called Monroe a _dude_. Or I don't know. _You_ as a whole gave it away."

_X_

"What's the 'button-box' thing?" Scarlett asked with a rum bottle in her hand. Kip was on the floor next to the bed tinkering with a computer.

"It's a scenario somebody proposed at an artificial intelligence conference. Imagine there's a computer that's been designed with a big red button on its side. The computer's been programmed to help solve problems, and every time it does a good job, its reward is that someone presses its button. We've programmed it to want that... So at first, the machine solves problems as fast as we can feed them to it. But over time, it starts to wonder if solving problems is really the most efficient way of getting its button pressed. Wouldn't it be better just to have someone standing there pressing its button all the time? Wouldn't it be even better to build another machine that could press its button faster than any human possibly could?"

Scarlett's eyebrows furrowed and she took a sip of rum. "It's just a computer, it can't ask for that."

"Well, sure it can." Kip turned to her. "If it can think, and it can connect itself to a network, well, theoretically, it could command over anything else that's hooked onto the same network. And once it starts thinking about all the things that might be a threat to the button, number one on that list is us. It's not hard to imagine it getting rid of the threat. I mean, we could be gone, all of us, just like that."

"That escalated quickly." Scarlett said and Kip lit up a joint. Kip lifted the joint from his lips and offered it to Scarlett. To that Scarlett merely shook her head and lifted the bottle of rum. "I'm fine with this poison."

Kip nodded and turned back to the computer.

"Is that what you're trying to build?" Scarlett realized.

Kip nodded. "Yeah. It's been a bit of a hobby for a while now."

"Why would you want to build something that could in theory cause destruction like that?"

Kip laughed and shook his head, like she had said something funny. "I'm building it because I can."

Before Scarlett could reply the door flew open. "¿Qué onda?" Carlos shouted while stumbling into the room. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he was drunk as hell. "Skipper!" He shouted while looking at the empty table, which was where Kip always was.

"Carlos." Kip said, not even lifting his eyes off the pieces of metal in his hands.

Carlos turned to look toward the bed. "Oh! There you are! And Scarlett-" he spoke three sentences worth of Spanish without even realizing it. He layed down on the bed next to Scarlett, almost falling over in the process. "I have to admit, I've totally underestimated the power of your boobs. They can freeze my mind at twenty paces."

Scarlett slapped her hand over her mouth to keep herself from laughing. Even Kip was now paying attention to the drunk man.

Carlos did some more muttering, which was a mix of Spanish and English. None of it was very coherent. By the end of the rant, he patted Scar's thigh and said "Nope, sex can wait. I want pie!"

Scarlett burst out laughing. It was one of those honest belly laughs that gave you cramps and made you cry. She hadn't had a laugh like that in forever and for a moment if felt like she couldn't stop. When she finally did she helped Carlos up from the bed.

"C'mon, we should get you out of here before you puke in Kip's bed alright?" Scarlett chuckled.

"Do you need help?" Kip asked, but didn't look like he was planning on standing up.

"No, I think I can handle it." Scarlett said, "Thanks."

Carlos muttered something and walked out with Scarlett. Thankfully he was able to actually walk himself and only had his arm around Scarlett for balance.

"Yknow," Carlos started. "It fucking sucks that you have to leave."

"I'm not going anywhere." Scarlett said, confused.

Carlos shook his head. "No, not yet. But you _will_!"

"And why does that suck?"

"Because you make us so much better!" Carlos said and Scarlett realized that she didn't know where Carlos' quarters were. But Carlos turned left so she trusted that he was coherent enough to know where to go. "I mean, Kidd is fucking ecstatic to have you around! Even Monroe likes you, he rarely really likes anyone. And fucking Vaas, güey, Vaas!"

"What about Vaas?" Scarlett asked as they neared a building which looked like it was on the verge of collapsing.

"He's different with you around. Fucking... Fucking..." Carlos shook his head and pushed open the door. "He's better. It's as if the two of you balance each other out." Carlos grabbed a bottle from a table on one side of the room and emptied the contents into his stomach. The next things out of his mouth were in Spanish, so she didn't understand any of it. Carlos sat on the edge of the bed and Scarlett leaned against the doorway. Perhaps it was better that she didn't know what he was saying, because the way he looked at her was like a thirsty man begging for water. "You do realize, that it's fate that you're here right?" Carlos asked. "Nothing will be the same after you go. Things are better with you here, so obviously they will be worse with you gone." He ran his hands through his hair and shook his head. "Nothing happens just because."

Scarlett frowned. "Go to sleep, Carlos."

The man kept going. "You don't see it do you. You don't see the changes... Of course you don't see the them."

"Changes?" Scarlett pried and took a seat on a chair.

"The way people are. Kidd was a bitter old man, I'd seen him smile like three times and now that's all he does! He drank himself to oblivion almost every night." Carlos explained. "And Vaas... Vaas has not spent this long in the camp in years. He has always been on the move, constantly doing rounds... Spending the maximum of two nights here. Then off again. He shouts less too, makes more jokes that are actual jokes." Carlos sighed. "You're here for more than just to hide."

_Of course, I am here for more._ Scarlett thought. _Because I'm not hiding. _She didn't say anything though, she couldn't say anything.

"You're close with Vaas?" She questioned after a few moments.

Carlos shrugged. "I suppose. Closer than the rest but still at arms length." The man sighed and layed down, closing his eyes. "Cojeme, everything is spinning..."

"Get some sleep." Scarlett rose from the chair and made her way out before he could say anything else.

* * *

**So that was that for this time.**

**Hopefully I will get another chapter out soon.**

**This story will have about the total of 15 (give or take) chapters.**

**As per usual, review, alert... post it to tumblr? Twitter? Whatever floats your boat.**

**Reviews are better than the big red button.**

**Adiós amigos.**

**-Max**


	8. Chapter 8

****Disclaimer: I do not own anything in my stories except for the _fan_ fiction (including plots, OC's and so on). All the characters belong to the rightful owners. Any songs/poems/etc in my stories do _not_ belong to me unless stated otherwise.****

* * *

**Chapter 8**

"**But Alice had got so much into the way of expecting nothing but out-of-the-way things to happen, that it seemed quite dull and stupid for life to go on in the common way."**

_A flush crept across Scarlett's skin that had nothing to do with the afternoon sun pouring down on them. The flush climbed her neck and kissed her cheeks, followed by a quivering across her belly and thighs._

_One of her hands dug into the sand and the other into his back as he picked up speed, but he held her firm at the hips and she tightened her thighs into vice grip around his waist. She rolled her head against the warm sand while she thrust her hips to meet his._

_She opened her eyes to meet his burning ones. The need and the pure, raw lust in them made her blush hotter and she let out a groan._

"_Oh fuck." She mumbled into his shoulder. "God."_

A loud crash outside woke her from her dream. Those eyes in her dream, she knew them. She swore she knew them. This was the only dream she had had in a long time that wasn't a nightmare. Dreams of the Coin Man, Felipe was his name, and Citra clouded her head. Some nights she woke up feeling like she had been poisoned and tortured all over again.

Days had passed. Then days turned into a week. Then into almost two. Yet there was no sight of Vaas. Not even a whisper of him. The pirates operated exactly like they did when Vaas was here, everyone had their own job and their own shifts. No questions asked.

Scarlett spent most of her days with Asher and Kip. Monroe and Carlos were in and out of the camp constantly. When Carlos wasn't there Gareth was the one in charge, so even he was busy most of the time. Everything in and around the camp had become rather mundane, everyone settled into a routine. Even Scarlett.

Her mornings began with recovering from a nightmare. Then she went to Turkey Point to get Ash and herself breakfast. After giving Ash his morphine and his breakfast, she usually headed out of the camp. It was one of her favourite parts of the day, getting out. Although she did prefer her evening walks more than the afternoon ones, she wasn't complaining because it had taken a bit to convince Gareth to let her go out on her own.

"_No, no fucking way!" Gareth said, folding his arms over his chest and shaking his head. He looked every bit of the parental figure he was supposed to be. Scarlett still wondered how the man hadn't had any kids of his own because she knew that he would be a great father._

"_Why not?" Scarlett asked, placing both of her palms of the table. "It's dangerous, I am fully aware of the fact. I know, Old Man, I know. But I'm getting serious cabin fever here." It was true, she needed a change to being in the camp. She wasn't a prisoner, but at the end of the day she felt like one._

_Gareth shook his head, his mouth set in a thin line. "You don't know what's out there, kid. Citra might send people after you again!"_

_Her heart missed a beat at the mention of Citra, her fingers numbed and she swallowed. "If you give me weapons, I can protect myself. And, I have the walkie talkie Monroe gave me if something happens to Ash. If something happens I can alert him and at the same, you."_

_And Gareth did. He gave her two 1911 pistols, one F1 assault rifle and a machete the size of her thigh. She found a holster to hold the pistols in a pile of clothes that came from dead rejects and pirates._

_Gareth eyed her when she had all of the weapons on her, shaking his head. "You really do look like you belong here now."_

"_And you don't like that."_

"_I hate it."_

She came back into the camp before noon to have lunch with Asher. After that she helped Ash out of the building into the shadow of a big tree that was next to it. He was still in terrible pain, but getting him out helped prevent bed sores and got him some fresh air.

"I'm really glad you're here." Ash said, while to two sat in the beaten up garden chairs.

Scarlett adjusted the sunglasses on her nose. "Is that so?"

Ash nodded. "Yeah. I mean seriously. You're preventing me from going crazy from laying in bed." He took a sip of water, it was another one of those hotter-than-hell days. "You can only read Peter Pan a few times before even that makes you sick."

Scarlett let out a chuckle. "Liar. You only like having me here cause I give you morphine." She took off her boots and socks.

Ash laughed. "You caught me!"

"I knew it!" She said, grinning at him.

The little stereo that sat between them was blasting out some music from an old MP3 player. It was blasting out some generic pop from a couple of years ago, but neither of them particularly minded. It was too hot out to care about music, also neither of them was planning to get up to go to Kip in order to get another CD, so they settled with the repetitive pop.

"Scarlett!" Gareth shouted, walking over to the two of them. "There you are!"

"Here I am." She stood up from the chair, screwing the lid of the bottle on top of it.

"Listen. I have to head to main land for a bit. Might be a couple of days. Not sure yet." He said. "You be good, now. Aye?"

Scarlett smiled. "I'll try." She promised.

Gareth kissed her forehead and set off after saying his goodbyes to her and Ash. Scarlett settled back into the chair, leaning her head back and closing her eyes.

"Can I ask you something?" Ash questioned.

Scarlett kept position, but she couldn't help the way she tensed just slightly. "Sure."

"How are you related to Gareth?"

"I'm not." Scarlett said relaxing. "Gareth was my father's best friend. After my parents passed away, he became my guardian. I've always called him uncle, even though there is no blood relationship there. Family doesn't mean just blood though."

Asher nodded, but didn't say anything.

"Can I ask you something?" This time it was Scarlett who asked.

"Always." Ash smiled.

"What did you do before you came here?"

"That's a long story." Ash sighed.

"I've got nothing but time." Scarlett admitted.

"Well," Ash started. "You know I was an army brat and all. So we moved around quite a bit. My dad was killed in combat, right after I turned 18. I had moved back to California, not a week after I turned of age. I moved to Dad wanted me to become a cop and I almost did. Cars had my heart though."

He smiled one of his big wide smiles that made his blue eyes light up with happiness. "I found some work at a garage and soon after I got into street racing. I had this beautiful Skyline," he whistled, "now that was one hell of a car. I tweaked it up myself. Added in some Nitrous. Oh God, it was _beautiful_ and so _fucking fast_!"

Scarlett couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm. She didn't often see people getting excited or passionate about things.

"Anyway," he waved with his arm and moving on with the story, even though he could have gone on about his car for hours. "I got busted trying to save a buddy from being busted. I did three years for it. I got out and went back to racing. I should have known better, I should have." Ash was getting lost in his story, but then he looked straight into Scarlett's eyes. His wide grin still on his lips. "You know that feeling when something just makes you so fucking happy, that you can't help but go back to it. Like every time you think about it your toes start to tingle and you... You start to crave it."

"I suppose." Scar offered her input.

"Racing was like... A drug, I guess. I couldn't get enough." He laughed. "The _adrenaline_ from it was fucking nuts!" He was remembering old times, old races and old wins. "It makes me sad we can't race here. Too many trees and not enough asphalt. Also the cars here are pieces of shits."

"Plus you'd probably end up in the sea."

Asher laughed, nodding. "Probably yeah. Though seriously, _Vaas_ could at least get better fucking cars around here."

The way Ash said Vaas' name piqued her curiosity. There was a certain resentfulness to his voice that Scar had never heard from him. "You don't like Vaas." It wasn't a question.

Asher let out a bitter laugh and shook his head. "It's mutual though. I hate him, he hates me. The only thing I've got going for me, besides my beautiful face of course,"

"Of course," Scarlett chuckled.

With a small smile Ash continued.,"Is the fact that I'm a good mechanic. To him I'm one of those motherfucking white boys who he'd rather sell than have hanging around his camp. All of this slave trading, human and drug trafficking makes me fucking sick." He shook his head, his lips now pulled down in a frown. "But what can I do, I did sorta choose this."

"Yeah?" Scarlett was about to continue but the radio between them fell silent. She looked at it and noticed that the CD had ran out of songs to play, after a quick glance at the sky told her that it was already well past noon. "You should take your morphine."

"Let's get me inside them." Ash said, a smile on his lips once more.

Before Ash could get up there was the distinct rumble of an engine nearby. Neither of them thought much of it until their heard barking and shouting, which could only mean one thing.

"Speak of the Devil." Ash groaned.

Vaas was back.

Scarlett couldn't help but frown. Questions clouded her mind like dark clouds. It had been two weeks since she had seen him and she needed answers, about Citra, about so many fucking things.

"C'mon, you should get inside." Scarlett said, picking up Ash's crutches from the ground and handing them to him.

It was about ten minutes later that Vaas was dragged into the building by Monroe. A dozen men followed the two, all spotting pretty nasty wounds. Scarlett handed Ash the last morphine tablet as her mouth fell open looking at the men.

Vaas sat onto the table and leaned against the wall. "Them first!" Vaas shouted as Monroe approached him. Vaas pressed his covered shoulder, which was very clearly bleeding, between his hand and the wall. He was rather pale, or at least as pale as he could get. She guessed it was due to the wound in his shoulder.

Monroe glared at the man, swore at him in what sounded like Gaelic and Scar stood, in case help was needed. Monroe went outside for a moment, shouting something she couldn't make out. In a matter of seconds Monroe rushed back in.

"What the hell happened out there?" Scar asked, slightly panicked. Her eyes moved to Vaas, but he gave no answer. Instead, his jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed just slightly. It was obvious he was in a lot of pain.

"Roadside ambush." Monroe said, giving the rest of the men a quick once over, patching up any larger wounds. Though it seemed no one had anything as bad as Vaas. "One bomb, around a dozen men. It happens."

She hesitated asking, though she did already know the answer. "The Rakyat?" She noticed how the veins in Vaas' neck were pulsing.

Monroe grumbled, "Who else?"

Vaas was still putting pressure onto his shoulder, but he looked pale and weaker than normal. "Here, let me help." Scarlett said, walking toward Vaas to reach for his shoulder.

"No," he grumbled, shaking his head just slightly. "I got it." His voice was hoarse and rough, like he hadn't had a single drop of water in days.

"Vaas," Scarlett said, challenging.

"I said, I got it." He answered, his tone left no room for argument.

Scar was about to argue despite his tone, but a man rushed inside. Monroe quickly gave him instructions to treat the other men and then walked over to Vaas.

"Scarlett, fetch some disinfectant and something for him to bite down on." Monroe said, carefully peeling away the fabric on Vaas' shoulder. Scarlett made a move toward the supply cabinet. "I'm fairly certain one of the bullets might still be on his shoulder."

She halted at his words. "_One_ of the bullets?" With trembling fingers she grabbed an old piece of leather that seemed to have once belonged to a belt. "How many in total?"

"Three." Vaas grunted.

"Three?" She almost shouted, her head whipping toward Vaas. The sheer stubbornness of the man still surprised her, with three bullet wounds in his shoulder and the amount of blood that he was losing he still refused her help.

He didn't look at her.

With a frown and a bad feeling growing in her stomach, Scarlett grabbed the disinfectant from a shelf and returned to the two men. "Here." She said, turning her eyes to Monroe.

Monroe's mouth was in a thin line. "Fetch some water and towels, my fear was not without reason it seems."

_x_

A cigarette hung between Scarlett's fingers as she walked through the jungle. With the sun low in the sky and the air thick with the events of the day, it was nearing dusk. Scarlett walked toward the beach, she could already smell the salty sea air that found it's path through the thick jungle.

Her mind was cluttered. Vaas hadn't as much as looked at her when he came into the camp, although he did have a bullet lodged in his shoulder, so Scarlett couldn't hold it against him. Even after that he hadn't acknowledged her and she had a feeling that something was wrong but she passed it off as nothing.

_I mean, you are on an unmapped island. With your not-dead-afterall uncle of sorts, pirates ,and their bloodthirsty and slightly unhinged leader. The feeling that something is wrong is the most natural feeling that you could have. _Scarlett reasoned to herself.

Vaas' anguished grunts still echoed in her head. The man didn't scream while the bullet was being pulled out of him, which surprised Scarlett. She knew Vaas was tough, the scar on his head proved that. Still, it amazed her and she made a mental note to ask Vaas about it later.

She still had so many questions and she was no closer to answers. She still had her mission here, and after weeks she still felt like she was at ground zero. Frustrated, she took a deep drag from her cigarette.

The jungle started thinning and the path she was on got wider. She was almost on the beach. The sea had offered her a strange sort of safe heaven ever since she was little. Her father loved the sea, so he had taken Scarlett with him every time he went sailing or to the docks. Perhaps now she loved the sea even more, now that he was gone.

Scarlett sighed. Her parents coming back to her thoughts. In her head it was fucked up that she could be without someone, in this case her parents, for years and had mastered not thinking about them, but no matter how much tie passed there were always the moments where she saw a photo of them, or caught a little of their perfume or cologne on a crowded street and suddenly she was plagued with a rapidly sinking stomach and the relentless question of could she have changed something? Could she have saved them?

Logically she knew there was nothing she could have done. She was a child, with only five years of age under her belt, and still innocent to the evils of the world. That didn't stop her from wondering.

The first thing that she did when she reached the beach was take her shoes off. With one last drag from the cigarette she threw it into the still warm sand. For a moment she let her eyes roam the beach that stretched for kilometres, looking for anything or anyone out of the ordinary. When everything seemed calm she picked up her boots and started walking toward the edge of the beach. She sat with her toes in the water, her boots and the machete next to her, and a cigarette on her lips, watching the sunset.

The salty sea air was gently rustling the few loose strands of hair and filling her lungs. The ocean was warm and the sky filled with orange as the sun dropped closer and closer to the horizon. This was the one place where she felt utterly relaxed.

"You should really keep up your guard." A voice said from behind her. In a fraction of a second Scarlett was on her knees with both of the pistols drawn, finger on trigger. The sea water was soaking her jeans, but that was the last thing on her mind. "I could have fucking killed you in so many different fucking ways with you just fucking sitting here like a motherfucker."

"Vaas." Scarlett sighed and lowered her weapons. "What the hell are you doing here? Shouldn't you be on bed rest?" She motioned to his bandaged shoulder.

Vaas chuckled and shook his head. "I have work to do. Plus a few extra fucking holes in my body won't fucking stop me."

"Work?" She questioned, rising to her feet.

Vaas nodded. "Mmh. I even pushed the fucking celebration forward by a day."

Scarlett picked up the machete and put it to it's place on her belt. "What are we celebrating?"

Vaas shrugged, his eyes scanning the horizon. The sun had almost completely set and the sky was turning into a dark red. "My return. Everything and nothing. The fucking existence of alcohol."

Scarlett smiled weakly. "Why am I not surprised."

"You should get back to camp, it's almost night fall."

Scarlett nodded and looked back at the setting sun. "I should." She took three steps past Vaas. "Are you coming?" She asked while turning to look over her shoulder.

"Right fucking behind you." He said and they both started walking. When they reached the edge of the jungle Vaas spoke up.

"Oi." Vaas whistled and Scarlett halted, turning around. "Does this smell like chloroform to you?" Vaas asked with a smirk, while one of his hands went to the back of Scarlett's neck and the other placed a white rag soaked in chloroform onto her nose and mouth.

Before she could fight him, she was only able to let out a muffled scream. Panic rose in her chest and then the darkness took over.

* * *

**Well... This is an interesting turn of events.**

**Have any of you figured out why Scar is really there by the way?**

**As per usual, review, alert... post it to tumblr? Twitter? Whatever floats your boat.**

**Reviews are better than people constantly kidnapping you.**

**Adiós amigos.**

**-Max**


	9. Chapter 9

****Disclaimer: I do not own anything in my stories except for the _fan_ fiction (including plots, OC's and so on). All the characters belong to the rightful owners. Any songs/poems/etc in my stories do _not_ belong to me unless stated otherwise.****

* * *

**A/N: So this chapter is a big one in every aspect. In the contents and in word count (fucking 11,000ish words). There is a part of this chapter that I've had written ever since I put out the first chapter, so this is a big milestone.**

**Which also makes this rather terrifying.**

**This chapter is a rollercoaster to say the least.**

**But I'll let you get on with it.**

**(Quickly though, basically the same reminder that I had at the very beginning. This takes place_ years_ before FC3.)**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

"**Contrariwise,' continued Tweedledee, 'if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic."**

The first thing that put her off was the smell. Or rather, the lack of it. It smelled fresh around her, like grass and water. Fresh water, as if from a spring and not the sea. Not a hint of piss, alcohol or blood clung to anything else but to one thing, a person she guessed, infront of her. She concluded from that that she wasn't in the camp. Her hands were tied above her head, so tightly that her fingers weren't getting any blood. Her legs were tied also with her toes barely touching the ground.

Then someone roughly shoved a gag in her mouth and then tied it around the back of her head.

It tasted like oil.

_Cirta._ Scarlett thought as she faked that she was still unconscious. Her heart started drumming as she did indeed hear the crackling of a fire nearby. She tried not to panic, trying to keep her breathing as even as she could but it wasn't easy. Last time she had ran into Citra she had been poisoned.

This time around there wasn't the smell of moss surrounding her, nor could she feel the cold stone against her skin. Scar figured she was moved somewhere more remote, where no one would know to look.

Scarlett spent a couple of minutes contemplating her exit strategy. The downside to this was that she still hadn't opened her eyes so she couldn't see around her, meaning she didn't know if there was anything she could use as a weapon. Scar figured the only plan of action at this point would be to get herself untied and find her weapons. Easier said than done.

"I know you're awake." She heard Vaas say.

_Vaas?_ She wondered as her eyes shot open.

They were in a small jungle clearing. The sound leaves rustling above her head gave away the fact that she was tied to a tree branch. In between Scarlett and the Pirate King was a small fire, which he was lazily poking with a stick. The could hear water, but it was far away. She had no idea on what part of Vaas' island she was on or even if she was on his island at all anymore.

And then Scarlett remembered. She remembered the beach, the sunset and Vaas shoving a chloroform soaked rag into her face. She remembered her her limbs went numb first, then her hearing dimmed and her vision blurred. All in a matter of seconds.

"Vaas." She said, but the gag muffled her speech.

Vaas smiled, lit up a cigarette and kept poking the fire. The flames danced off his eyes and gave them a glint, striking fear into Scarlett's heart. The only light around them was the fire, that currently illuminated Vaas, and the small amount of moonlight that shone through the jungle. It was in the middle of the night and she was alone with Vaas in the middle of the jungle. She swallowed thickly and closed her eyes, silently accepting the fact that she might actually die this time around. With Coin Man and with Citra there had been the hope is her that Gareth would come to get her if she failed to save herself... That Vaas would come to get her... This time Gareth was god knows where and Vaas was the one who held her captive.

She tried to get the gag out of her mouth but that didn't work. Then she attempted to free her hands, but Vaas seemed to tie excellent knots. Vaas who was still sitting by the fire took no notice of her escape attempts even though Scar was sure he was aware of it.

Scar suddenly remembered of the first time she went to Turkey Point, when there were the to young hostages tied up like pigs.

"_They tried to run." Vaas pulled a gun from the holster on his hip and stroked the girls cheek with the shiny barrel. The girls eyes pooled with tears and they were soon running down her cheeks, she bit her lip to keep silent._

_Scarlett swallowed and her stomach felt hollow, regretting ever bringing up the two hostages._

"_They know, there is no fucking way out." Vaas was mere centimetres away from her face. "They know, that there is no fucking escape." The girl squeezed her eyes shut and let out a sob. "Shh shh," He shushed, wiping her tears away with his thumb. "It's going to be okay, shh. Don't cry."_

There was no way out.

This was his island.

_Of course he wouldn't be worried about you getting yourself free._ Her inner voice told her. _He knows the island better than anyone. You don't have a chance._

She made a snap decision, which would probably end up being a bad idea. Though, she reasoned with herself by saying that this situation is heading toward her death anyway so it wasn't like it could get much worse. "Vaas!" She shouted again.

This time Vaas lifted his head, then asked politely "I'm sorry what did you say?"

"Vaas!" She repeated. "What the hell?" The words were muffled.

"I'm sorry what?" He stood up and slowly walked over to her, like a predator stalking prey.

Scarlett realized that speaking, or attempting to speak had been a mistake. Or rather, an even bigger one that she thought it would be. "Please." She stared at him with wide eyes.

"Do you want me to slice you open, huh?" Vaas shouted, trailing the machete, the one that Gareth had given her, on her throat. "_Shut the fuck up! _Okay? I'm the one with the fucking dick!"

She could do nothing else but to avoid his gaze, she figured that perhaps making eye contact might infuriate him even more. She didn't even dare swallow. Scar remembered how Vaas had toyed with two young hostages at Turkey point, twisting their words. His eyes had been ablaze, much like they were when he looked at her now. She didn't even let herself wonder what had happened to the duo. She remembered how sorry she had felt for them and hoped that she would never be in the position they were in. Now she figured that it would be better is she was in their position. If she was she would be tied up in the middle of camp and someone would cut her down.

"Look at me. Look me in the fucking eye." Vaas commanded. "Hey! You fuck!" Vaas grabbed her chin and pulled her head up, so that it was impossible for her to avoid his eyes. "Look me in the eye." He motioned to his left eye with the machete. "You're my bitch. I rule this fucking kingdom. So shut the fuck up." A small smile found its way across his lips. "Or you die."

He held her gaze for a while before speaking again. Panic was flooding her, she couldn't hold it back anymore. Her chin started trembling slightly, but she bit the inside of her cheek to stop it.

_Show no weakness_. She reminded herself.

"You know what, hermana. I'm gonna chill, okay?" Vaas chuckled. "Isn't it lovely how just a few hours ago you thought you had a fucking chance. But now," He ran a finger across her cheek. "you've hit the ground. There is no fucking way out."

They were a mere 10 centimetres apart. So Scarlett did the only thing that she could. She headbutted him as hard as she physically could. It was a reflex and went against her better judgement, but this was a matter of survival. And if she was going down, she was going down fighting. Of course this would have been much more effective, if she would have had the chance to run.

Vaas let out a small groan and then a laugh. "You've got fire. I've _always_ liked that." He laughed some more. "I did honestly think that if I had you tied up," He went closer again and grabbed a fistful of her hair and roughly tugged it back, so it caused shooting pains in her scalp. Their faces were closer then before, but he made sure she was unable to headbutt him again. "If I had you fucking tied up, it would be under different circumstances." His mouth stretched into a smirk. "None the less, _this_. This will be just as much fun." He winked at her. "At least for me."

"Why?" She tried to say.

Vaas seemed to understand her. "Why? Fucking why?" His eyes roamed her face, smirk still on his lips. "I had taken quite a liking to you, hermana. Believe it or not."

Scarlett shook her head, he hadn't understood what she meant. "Why?" She repeated.

"Why what? Huh?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Why am I tied up?" She tried to say, but it came out completely incoherent.

Vaas sighed and ripped the gag away from her mouth. Scar let out a pained groan as the rag tugged on her skin. "You need to stop fucking mumbling."

"Why am I tied up?" She repeated, her voice hoarse. The gag fell around her neck.

Vaas released her hair and went to the spot where he was sitting before. He lit up another cigarette and drowned some pills, washing them down with some rum. "Let me tell you a little story. Okay? Aesop once wrote of two men who were travelling together: one was a liar and the other always told the fucking truth. Their journey led them to the land of the monkeys. There was a whole crowd of monkeys there and _one_ of them noticed the travellers." He raised his index finger at the word 'one', and then continued the tale. "The monkey who was clearly their leader ordered that the men be detained. Since he wanted to know what the men thought of him, he commanded all rest of the fucking monkeys to stand before him in a long line to his right and to his left, while a seat was prepared for him to sit on." Vaas chuckled.

"You see this motherfucker, this monkey, had once seen the emperor, a human emperor, so he was ordering his fucking monkeys to line up for him in the same way. The men were then told to come forward into the midst of the monkeys. The chief monkey said, 'Who am I?' So the chickenfuck liar said, 'You are the emperor!' Then the monkey asked, 'And those whom you see standing before me: who are they?' The man answered, 'They are your noble fucking companions, your chancellors, your officials and the commanders of your goddamn armies!' Because these fucking lies _flattered_ the monkey and his troops, he ordered that the man be showered with bloody presents." Vaas took a deep drag from his cigarette.

"All the monkeys were fooled by his fucking flattery." The smoke was seeping out of his mouth as he spoke. "Meanwhile, the man who always told the truth thought to himself, 'If that motherfucking liar received such rewards for telling lies, then _surely_ I will receive an even greater reward for telling the truth.' The chief monkey said to the second man, 'Now you tell me who I am, and who are these whom you see standing before me?' And the man who always loved the truth and never fucking lied said to the monkey, 'You are simply a monkey, and all of these similar simians are fucking monkeys as well!' The chief monkey, that fucking pussy, immediately ordered the monkeys to attack the man with their teeth and claws because he had spoken the truth.'" Vaas threw the butt of his cigarette into the fire infront of him and then rubbing his mouth with his hands.

"Why are you telling me this?" Scarlett asked, after Vaas hadn't spoken for a while.

Vaas stood up heavily and sighed, eyeing Scarlett. He walked closer, toying with the machete in his hand. His head tilted to the side once they were a metre apart. "Because flattery will not keep you alive with me."

Her hands were trembling and her heart was racing. She guessed the truth wouldn't keep her alive either.

"So listen to me, hermana. _I_ need _you _to listen real _fucking_ careful. Okay?" He sounded so sincere, but there was a fire in his eyes that made her doubt that sincerity. "I need you to tell me the truth."

Scarlett swallowed. "About what?"

Vaas laughed, that sort of a sick laugh that he laughed every time right before he killed someone. "Oh c'mon, hermana. I know you're smarter than this."

Scarlett stayed silent. The only noise there was was her heavy breathing and the crackling of the fire.

"No? Okay." Vaas laughed and the machete was at her throat again. "Listen here you motherfucker. When I was on the island, doing my rounds, being the good King I am." He smirked. "I heard some fucking men speak of a woman with brown eyes that can burn a bloody hole through a mans _heart_." He pointed to his heart with his index finger. "Someone so _skilled_ at wrapping people around her fucking finger, that no one would think she's a threat. At first I passed it off, thinking they spoke of a fucking whore. But no," he chuckled. "The woman is a spy. Here on a mission to assassinate." Vaas smiled, pushing the sharp edge of the machete more into her throat. "You wouldn't happen to know her, would you?"

Scarlett closed her eyes and let out a breath through her nose.

Vaas snarled. "Why are you here?"

This was it. She was going to die.

"If you're going to kill me, do it now." She said.

"So you admit it." Vaas laughed. "You motherfucker, you come into my fucking camp, fuck with _me_ and expect to get away with it. Oh no. No, no, no, no. You're going to fucking suffer." The blade was removed from her throat and she opened her eyes. "You're a traitor so I'm going to skin you alive." The scarred man was facing away from her. He looked over his shoulder and gave her a smile, one that on anyone else could be considered truly genuine. "You know what I keep fucking thinking. I keep thinking how you managed to rope Hoyt into all of this. Huh? How the fuck did you bypass him? He doesn't like outsiders, especially the ones who aren't for sale." Vaas paused and lit up another cigarette. "No one gets onto this island."

"You fucked him, didn't you?" He laughed in realization. "I should have fucking figured." He slowly walked back toward Scarlett, shaking his head with a smile. "I wonder, how many times did you have those pretty little lips," he trailed the edge of the machete on her lips. "wrapped around his fucking cock in order for him to let you get to this island."

"I didn't fuck him." Scarlett exclaimed disgusted, her mind conjuring up the leering eyes of Hoyt.

Vaas chuckled and shook his head. "You know what, I don't think I believe that."

Scarlett sighed, figuring the only way out was to tell the truth and hopefully manage to cut a deal with Vaas in the progress. He might kill her despite her confession, but it was her best chance. "He's the one who hired me."

Vaas paused. The tip of the blade trailing halfway down her neck. His eyes flickered from the tip of the blade to her eyes. His eyebrow rose and his mouth was hanging slightly open. "I'm not sure I fucking believe that either."

"You wanted the truth, didn't you?"

"Why the hell would Hoyt _hire_ you?" He pushed the machete into her throat once more. "You see that doesn't make sense." He shook his head. "If Hoyt wanted _me_ dead, which in itself is pretty fucking unlikely, he'd hire someone..." His eyes trailed her up and down. "Up for the task."

"No one ever said that you were my target." Then Scarlett smiled, she figured she was going to die, deal or no deal, by Vaas' hand sooner or later so the tone of her voice wouldn't make much of a difference. "And darling, trust me. If I was here to kill _you_, you would have been dead a long time ago."

"And that makes your pretty little fucking story that much more unlikely. If Hoyt wanted someone else dead he would tell _me_." Vaas said, "Like always."

"Unless." Scarlett's eyes bore into his. "Unless Hoyt didn't know who needed to be killed."

This piqued the scarred mans interest. He liked his lips and tilted his head. "Tell me the _truth_."

"Cut me down." Scarlett negotiated, to which Vaas laughed.

"You are in no fucking position to make demands, hermana." Vaas spoke. "If you tell me the truth, I will let you live."

"Oh hell no. If you will let me live, then you will still leave me hanging here until I starve to death or some animal kills me." Scarlett said, she had seen him do that to many rejects before. Promising them their life and coming through on that promise, but by leaving them where they were for a couple of weeks. He killed them one way or another. "I know this game, I have seen you play it with so many hostages. Do not take me for a fool. You cut me down and let me live, then I tell you the truth."

"You first, hermana." The fire was beginning to die down behind Vaas. "If I like the truth, then I might conciser it_._"

"You cut me down first." Scar insisted.

"Listen here, you are in no fucking place to make goddamn demands. Okay?" Vaas' eyes flashed. "You tell me the fucking truth and I will maybe cut you down."

"Not good enough." Scarlett sighed, she was going to make a colossal mistake but it was the only way to get out, depending on how it went. "Fine. I will tell you the truth first, but you _will_ cut me down. No maybes. Do we have a deal?" Scarlett asked, raising an eyebrow.

After a moment of silence, Vaas nodded. "Sí."

"There is a rat in your camp, someone is feeding information to Hoyt's rivals. Hoyt didn't know who it was, so he got into contact with Shaun. He's my manager or sorts I suppose. All of my contracts go through him and he sends them on to me. Hoyt wasn't aware he was hiring a woman, I usually go by my surname, and he wasn't exactly happy when he found out. Anyway. I'm here to find and kill the rat." Scarlett explained.

When Vaas speak or didn't give any indication that he had even been listening to her, she shouted. "I'm here to kill a _rat_, _not_ you."

Vaas smiled. "Yet, I still don't fucking get why the hell Hoyt didn't just ask me."

If Scarlett could have shrugged she would have. "I'm not him, I don't know. Though logically it would raise quite a few red flags amongst your men if you started poking around, asking questions. It would give too many chances to destroy evidence or alert the people who the rat is working for. Hell, it would have given enough time for the rat to disappear completely. Meaning another rat would have come along soon enough. You knowing would complicate things."

Vaas pulled the blade away from her throat and then swung at her. Scarlett closed her eyes and tensed her muscles, trying to keep herself from screaming. Instead of the blade hitting her it cut the rope from which she was hanging from. She fell to the ground with a thud, groaning at impact. Her muscles and joints were sore and burning. Vaas left her there as he went to sit next to the fire, throwing in a few pieces of wood.

By the time Scarlett managed to scramble closer to the fire the flames were burning high again. She held her arms toward him, motioning to the roped which still held her wrists together. Scarlett noticed for the first time how exhausted Vaas looked. His eyes were surrounded by dark, bruised looking skin. His shoulders were a bit more sunken than usual, the three bullet wounds in his shoulder probably had to do with that as well. Scarlett briefly wondered how long it had been since he last slept. Vaas' eyes were trained on her, the deal had been to cut her down, not to free her completely. However, after a moment of deliberation Vaas grabbed her arms and pulled them toward him, with a quick and skilled movement he cut open the rope tied around them.

"Legs." Vaas said, and put a new cigarette between his lips.

Scarlett shifted herself so that he could cut the rope off of her ankles. Her hands then rubbed the raw skin on her wrists. When she got her legs free she immediately fell onto her back, letting all of her muscles relax.

A groan escaped her lips. "Fuck."

"The rat. Have you found him?" Vaas asked.

Scarlett shook her head. "I wouldn't be here if I had. So no, not yet." She sighed. "You do realize that my mission has been compromised now. You know why I am here, I should kill you too." It was true, her contract did state that no one was to know of her mission except for Hoyt. If anyone else was to find out, Scarlett would have to kill them. She had a feeling that if Hoyt found out that the point in the contract had been broken, he would have her head.

Vaas laughed. "You're not going to kill me. If anyone is killing fucking anyone, I will kill you. You did fucking lie to me."

Scarlett smiled. "You're not a man who wastes his time, we both know that. If you were to kill me I'd be dead. The same goes for you. And I lied to everyone, not just you." The cool earth felt like heaven against her burning skin.

Vaas looked at her, cocking his head to the side. "Even Gareth?"

Scarlett nodded. "Yes. Even Gareth."

"You and I." Vaas started, licking his lips. "We are more alike than you think."

"We're both killers."

"Sí. In more fucking ways than that though." Vaas offered her a drink. She gladly took the bottle from his hands, popped herself up on her elbows and took a long swig.

"How will this work from now on?" Scarlett wondered. "You know my mission. It is in my contract that I have to kill you. I haven't made up my mind on that yet, by the way. If Hoyt found out that the contract was broken he'd probably, or most definitely, kill me. Although, seeing as we both would like to keep out lives, how about we keep this between you and I huh? "

Vaas smiled. "Nobody has to fucking know, eh? It can be," he licked his lips. "Our little secret."

"And can you keep secrets?"

"Oh, mina. I am excellent with secrets." He smiled, but his smile was half hearted. He grabbed the bottle of rum and pulled the cork off. Putting the bottle to his lips, he took six deep glugs from it.

Scarlett frowned. "When was the last time you slept?" She had noticed he didn't sleep often nor for long periods of time. "Properly." She added. There was a time when she wasn't able to sleep either. It was during the first year that she had thought that Gareth was dead. Every night she battled night terrors and at some point it was easier not to sleep at all.

Vaas laughed bitterly and shook his head. He offered no further answer.

She sat up fully and moved toward Vaas a little. "Vaas we are in this together now. I need you to be in your best shape because we can't offer any slip ups." She caught Vaas' eyes and she saw a storm brewing behind them. He was exhausted and for all intents and purposes, he was broken. Much like she had been, how she still was to a certain extent. "You _need_ to sleep."

The words that Vaas said not long before rang in her ears.

_You and I. We are more alike than you think._

Perhaps that was true, they were more alike than Scarlett would have liked to admit. However they were so different, but not as different as she had hoped. Now with both of their lives on the line, it felt like the wall that was between them was starting to crumble down. The wall that was built on anger, lies, denial and all things left unsaid was coming down. She didn't even know that there _was_ a wall until it broke. It scared the shit out of Scarlett.

"I can't." He confessed and took another gulp of rum. "I physically can't."

Scarlett pursed her lips, deciding to let the subject pass without pressing any further. Instead she grabbed the bottle of rum and took a sip.

With a grunt Vaas rose to his feet and extended an arm, the good arm, toward Scarlett. "We should get back to camp. It's almost sunrise."

**_x_**

The men were all around the fire, even Ash had been dragged out of bed. He was grinning with a beer in his hand while he spoke to Kip and Scarlett. Gareth had returned to the camp before dinner, and Scarlett couldn't help but think that it wasn't an accident that he was gone precisely when Vaas captured her. Big speakers had been dragged out and music was blasting out of them, it was however very quickly that it turned into a karaoke competition.

"Seriously? You guys do karaoke?" Scarlett laughed.

"Do you have something against it?" Kip laughed. "It's a good way for the men to relax. Plus when they're done with that Monroe will probably end up playing for the rest of the night."

Gareth pulled up a chair and sat into their group.

"Are you kidding me? I love karaoke!" She said, opening a new bottle of beer. "I actually used to work at a karaoke bar. The best thing is that it was in South London, so it was one of those rough gangster bars."

Gareth groaned. "I'm not sure I want to hear this story."

"I was a waitress there, but on three nights. I think it was... Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Anyway, those nights were 'my' nights. They even called it 'Karaoke with Scarlett'. So it became-" She burst into giggles at the memory.

Kip pretended to hold on to a microphone, deepened his voice quite a bit and spoke in a tv presenter voice. "Please welcome to the stage! Scarlett!" He dragged out her name as he spoke.

"But it was a bit dodgy and sometimes it would get quite fraught in there. Occasionally I'd get threatened or something like that. There was this one time this guy came to me, and by this point he had done this like ten fucking times. He came to me and asked me to sing some song over and over again, I think it was Frank Sinatra's 'My Way' or something like that anyway. And I was like for God's sake, no. So I sang something else and this guy pulled out a crowbar from his trousers and he came for me." Scarlett hunched over in giggles again.

"So I just shouted 'John'! Because the owner was called Little John, despite being almost two metres tall. So he got everybody out and saved me, but he said that 'In the future, Scar. If that happens again, what will work is singing 'My Heart Will Go On' by Celine Dion cause that really chills everyone down.'"

"Did that actually work?" Kip wondered in amazement.

"Yes!" Scarlett giggled. "It used to be like a soothing balm to all of the drunken gangsters. And since then every single time it got fraught he'd just come to me like 'Oi, Scar. Do Titanic, do Titanic."

The three men around her toppled over in laughter.

"The best thing about that though, is that I absolutely despise the song." Scarlett admitted.

Karaoke was more fun than Scarlett had had in a while. There were terrible 80's power ballads sung by people who were absolutely pissed while simultaneously dancing. Scarlett even ended up singing for a song. She picked 'Total Eclipse Of The Heart', despite it's cheesy nature. Then men seemed to have no complaints over it.

Scarlett took a seat next to Ash and offered him a new beer.

"Thanks." Asher smiled at her. "Do you know what's up with Vaas?"

Scarlett's eyebrows pulled together. "What do you mean?"

"He's acting weird. It's not like him not to completely drunk by this point. He doesn't usually sit out parties, much less when they're thrown for his return."

Scarlett scanned the crowd and found Vaas sitting in a chair a bit further away from the men. "He did just get three bullets in his shoulder. I wouldn't be in much of a party mood either."

Ash shook his head. "That's the thing. The asshole is always in a party mood. If he can get fucked up, he will. Something is wrong."

"Why are you concerned about what's up with him?" Scarlett wondered.

"Jesus." Ash sighed. "Because his mood could have a big effect on you."

"What?"

"Have you seriously not noticed?" When Scarlett offered no answer, he kept talking. "Even when you could cut the sexual tension between the two of you with a knife, you haven't noticed. The man likes you. Hell, he's head over heels for you."

"No he's not." Scarlett denied. "Sure, there is attraction. He doesn't fancy me though."

Ash scoffed. "You don't have to believe me... Do you 'fancy' him?" He asked, making air quotes around the word 'fancy'.

Scarlett licked her lips. The whole day, since Vaas found out why she was in his camp it felt like they were pulled toward each other. Everything she had tried to deny was surfacing. She had always been attracted to the man. But now the wall was gone from between them. And with the breaking of the wall came the truth that Scarlett had been trying to avoid for a while.

She fancied him.

The alcohol played a crucial part in actually admitting that to herself.

"No." Scarlett said. She wasn't stupid enough to go parading around with her feelings, so she wasn't going to advertise them to Asher either, who she knew had a little crush on her.

Karaoke went on for about an hour more. The entertainment for the rest of the night Monroe playing guitar and mandolin. For some songs, other men came in to play bagpipes, tin whistle, banjo, accordion and one of the men took big steel pots from the kitchen to drum on. By the fourth song there was a whole band together. The songs they played were well known amongst the men, some more than others. But they were all having a good time, singing and dancing along.

_The pictures tell the story  
This life has many shades  
I'd wake up every morning and before I'd start each day  
I'd take a drag from last nights cigarette  
That smouldered in it's tray  
Down a little something and then be on my way_

Ever since the conversation with Asher, Vaas invaded her mind. She remembered that he had rescued her from his crazy sister single-handedly. She remembered what she had said to him in the old army shelter, knowing that every single word have been the truth.

She grabbed a new beer bottle from the table and popped it open, chugging it down.

The memory of their kiss resurfaced and caused her to shiver. The way his hand was twisted in her hair. The way he kissed her like he was a starving man. She remembered how it felt like her soul was on fire, her senses heightened and pure, raw lust was coursing through her veins. He tasted like cigarettes and rum, and she could still taste him on her lips. She remembered how her knees were weak by the end of it. And that it had been just a kiss, which made her wonder what else he could do with his mouth.

_I travelled far and wide  
And laid this head in many ports  
I was guided by a compass  
I saw beauty to the north  
I drew the tales of many lives  
And wore the faces of my own  
I had these memories all around me  
So I wouldn't be alone_

And she remembered the dream she had where everything had felt so real.

She remembered his promise to make her scream.

She wanted him.

_Some may be from showing up  
Others are from growing up  
Sometimes I was so messed up and didn't have a clue  
I ain't winning no one over  
I wear it just for you  
I've got your name written here  
In a rose tattoo_

All of the men shouted out the next lyrics, this song seemed to be one of the more popular ones. Monroe strummed away on the guitar with a wide smile on his lips, the fire illuminating the scars on his cheeks.

_In a rose tattoo  
In a rose tattoo  
I've got your name written here  
In a rose tattoo_

_This ones for the mighty sea  
Mischief, gold and piracy  
This ones for the man that raised me  
Taught me sacrifice and bravery  
This ones for our favourite game  
Black and gold, we wave the flag  
This ones for my family name  
With pride I wear it to the grave_

Monroes voice was something Scarlett didn't know how to describe. He wasn't a trained singer, but there was something about his voice that made him sound amazing. Perhaps it was the way he sounded that suited this hell-on-earth so well. He sounded earthy and sincere, his accent ringing in every word.

_Some may be from showing up  
Others are from growing up  
Sometimes I was so messed up and didn't have a clue  
I ain't winning no one over  
I wear it just for you  
I've got your name written here  
In a rose tattoo_

She had been listening to the men play for what felt like hours, but it was very entertaining. She even danced a very bad waltz with Kip, both of them toppling over in laughter every third second. Scarlett grinned while picking at the label of the beer bottle. Despite the great music and the distractions, Vaas still invaded her mind.

_In a rose tattoo  
In a rose tattoo  
I've got your name written here,  
In a rose tattoo  
In a rose tattoo  
In a rose tattoo  
I've got your name written here  
In a rose tattoo_

She turned her eyes toward Turkey Point and saw Vaas leaning of the railing, a bottle between his fingers and a cigarette on his lips. His eyes were scanning the men, his brows pulled together.

Scarlett downed the last of her drink and got to her feet, trying to make her way toward Vaas but she ended up stumbling. Now that she was on her feet, she could feel all of the effects of the alcohol and she was drunker than she thought. A drunk Scarlett was rarely good news. Although that would depend on one's definition of good news. After finding her balance Scarlett made her way, very slowly, to Turkey Point. It took everything she had not to accidentally stumble on the sleepy Maccie on the stairs.

_This one means the most to me  
Stays here for eternity  
A ship that always stays the course  
An anchor for my every choice  
A rose that shines down from above  
I signed and sealed these words in blood  
I heard them once, sung in a song  
It played again and we sang along_

"You shouldn't be moping about." Scarlett noted and leaned against the railing, facing the opposite way from Vaas. "You should be there, shaking your ass like a king."

That made Vaas smile. "Really."

"Yes really. If you can shake your ass, you should fucking shake it. I can't fucking shake my ass." Scarlett confessed with a giggle. "Oh wow, I'm drunk."

"Indeed."

_You'll always be there with me  
Even if you're gone  
You'll always have my love  
Our memory will live on_

"You know..." She swallowed and leaned toward Vaas, so that their arms was mere centimetres apart. "You know how you said you have 'taken quite a liking to me'... Was that how you said it?"

"Yes..." Vaas said, lifting an eyebrow. He popped a few white pills into his mouth.

"I was reminded. I remembered a promise you made me a long time ago. I was wondering if you were going to keep that promise." Scarlett wondered licking her lips.

Vaas smiled and turned to look at her, he knew exactly what she was talking about, the time they were stuck in the storm and he had promised to make her scream. "And you want that?"

The alcohol had loosened her tongue more than she would have cared to admit, though it was obvious from the things that left her mouth. "I know that I have been spent too much time denying myself. When during all of that time I could have been having...fun. And now you and I, are in this together." Vaas chucked and Scarlett continued to talk. "Do you know what you want?"

Vaas nodded and took a drag from his cigarette. "Sí."

"And what is that?" She wondered.

"You."

_Some may be from showing up  
Others are from growing up  
Sometimes I was so messed up and didn't have a clue  
I ain't winning no one over  
I wear it just for you  
I've got your name written here  
In a rose tattoo_

"You should go and be a good king. You aren't the one to sit out celebrations and you don't want to arouse any suspicion... Do you?" Scarlett licked her lips, her brain failing to function properly. "You know... _Mina_." She said, mocking the nickname he had for her. As the next sentence left her mouth she was reminded of and event, when Vaas had said the exact same words to her, in the exact same spot. Except now that felt like a lifetime ago. "When you get bored, you know where to find me," She pointed to the general direction of her quarters. "and make good on your promise."

_In a rose tattoo  
In a rose tattoo  
I've got your name written here,  
In a rose tattoo  
In a rose tattoo  
In a rose tattoo  
With pride I'll wear it to the grave for you  
In a rose tattoo  
In a rose tattoo  
I've got your name written here,  
In a rose tattoo  
In a rose tattoo  
In a rose tattoo  
Signed and sealed in blood I would die for you._

**_x_**

_She was his, he knew she was his. She had to be fucking his. _Vaas thought as he stalked through the camp, his steps were swayed by whisky and a good fucking hit of cocaine. It had been a while since he had done a proper hit of it, he'd had different shit, mainly home-made red, berry looking things, from Dr. Earnhardt to keep his cravings at bay. He had a cigarette dangling between his lips. His vision was delayed and he felt like he was underwater, things were blurry and slow, and fast. Vaas took a drag of the cigarette as he stumbled slightly and felt his stomach churn, ready to turn itself inside out at any given time. It would never do so however, he was very aware of the quantities of poisons he put inside himself.

He wasn't supposed to be doing this, he knew that, but he couldn't fucking care. He was losing the war he'd been fighting with himself. He had been doing pretty well. This woman had been driving him wild since the first day she walked in and he was holding it together for the most part. He had all but given up any hope he had on Scarlett. She wasn't a woman for casual flings, or at least she didn't seem to be and he knew that he couldn't give her more.

The cigarette fell from between his fingers as he paused outside her building. The outside door was always open and judging from the light that was coming from the inside, the door to her room was open too.

He stepped into the building, swallowing the part of him that was screaming him not to do it, not to go in. Because that part of him knew she didn't want him, despite their banter and her glances. How would she? His fingers trailed his head, where the jagged scar represented everything that he was. If he was just a tad bit more sober, he might have turned back. No, he definitely would have turned back. But the poisons in his veins made him not care. Plus he knew that the sting of rejection would be milder now. He remembered when she was under the influence of the antidote, blabbering away about sex among other things. He knew she spoke the truth, but back then she wasn't in control of her mouth.

His eye quickly caught a half empty bottle of most likely rum on the small table in the middle of the room. With trembling fingers he went to retrieve the bottle and downed almost all of the contents. With a heavy breath out he put the bottle back down and enjoying the warmth it created in his stomach. He stepped into Scarlett's room, closing the door and then leaned all of his weight against it. Scarlett was sitting behind her laptop, before she turned to face him she slammed the top of it down.

She had haunted him for too long. Putting questions and thoughts into his head that made him want to kill her or rip his own heart out. He wanted to know if her hair was as really soft as it looked. He wanted to know if the bottom of her foot was ticklish. He wanted to know if her lips felt like the heaven that they resembled. To some of these questions he had found the answer the night he kissed her, making it even more harder for him to stay away. He wanted to explore and investigate all of the secret little places that would make her come undone. He wanted to hear and see her face when she came. He wanted to feel the firmness of her hips underneath his fingertips as he fucked her from behind. He wanted to touch her everywhere.

_Jesus fucking christ_, Vaas thought as he looked at her. She was wearing his shirt, the one she borrowed from him weeks ago. In his eyes she looked like the devil.

A small smirk played on Scarletts lips, indicating that she had been expecting him. "Vaas." Her voice was slightly raspy from all of the cigarettes she had been smoking and God it drove him crazy.

His panting breath was the only sound in the small, dingy room. Though he was sure the drumming of his heart was loud enough to be heard as well. Blood was pumping sluggishly through his body in direct contrast to the air being forced to and from his lungs at a rapid, almost frantic pace.

Scarletts fragile fingers were twirling the fine ends of her hair around and around until there was a small snarling mess. She knew that there was only one reason why Vaas would be in her room. To make good on his promise.

The insuperable feeling of being completely out of control was clawing up his throat. He shouldn't be there. He finally lifted his eyes up to hers. He had stayed away for so fucking long, but he couldn't anymore. The war was lost. His body was craving the rush that he knew would finally bring that numbing warmth that was so, so fucking good. He felt weak but he felt powerful and he knew she saw that and he hated it.

She stood from the chair, Vaas' shirt didn't even reach the middle of her thigh and exposed all of her creamy, long, muscular legs. Vaas cursed himself and let his head fall against the door with a thump. She walked over to him, brown eyes full of mischief, and Vaas couldn't tear his eyes away. As soon as Vaas' musky smell registered in Scars brain her body relaxed. Her muscles unclenched and the tension was sliding away bit by bit.

He lifted up his hand, heavy like led, and ran his finger across her jaw. She was watching him, eyes wary but she didn't move away. Suddenly, Vaas grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her against the door that he was leaning against a second before, leaning some of his weight onto her body. The sudden twirl made him want to throw up even more.

"I fucking hate you." He hissed into her ear, making it loud and sickeningly hot so she would cringe. She made him feel weak and he fucking hated it. His fingers were itching to reach for his gun, point it at her pretty little head and pop the whole clip into it.

She laughed at him. She _fucking_ laughed at him. He punched the wall next to her head, but she didn't flinch. Instead she kept her eyes on his, daring him.

Challenging.

Devil woman.

"I came here to kill you, mina."

She laughed again, this time louder. " I thought we already went over this. Besides, I am still alive and you are not a man who wastes his time." She chuckled as her eyes bore into his, gently she placed her hands onto his biceps. "You won't kill me."

He hated how sure of herself she was. He hated how she didn't fear him. He was disgusted with himself because he could kill dozens of Rakyats without batting an eye and leaving her alone in the camp made him feel guilty. He grabbed her neck and pushed her against the door. She gripped his wrist tight, in an attempt to stop him from choking her, and Vaas loosened his hold. His hand almost limp, slid down from her neck toward her chest.

_I hate you. I _fucking_ hate you._ Vaas screamed in his head.

Even he himself didn't believe it.

She smiled, eyes full of something he dared not name.

And Vaas was lost.

Scar placed her hands on either side of his face. Her blood was picking up speed, pumping faster and faster through her veins until she thought she may actually burst. The anticipation was swiftly climbing up her spine like a vine of bubbles, tickling every nerve in her body as it spread and stretched. He looked like the best kind of bad idea. Her breathing quickened as she allowed her mind to fully absorb all the sensations she knew were only seconds away.

Vaas' head swayed ever so slightly, his eyelids felt heavy and he felt so fucking hot as if he was bathing in fire. His breathing was ragged and heavier than he wanted her to see, but he felt so goddamn _weak_. And her soft lips were on his chapped ones. She was tender and soft, but Vaas didn't know how to be, so he wrapped his arms around her and pressed her between the wall and his muscular chest. He bit her lip, nearly drawing blood, and she gasped, but it only caused her to try and pull him closer, an action that made Vaas' insides twist in happiness and all the mad thoughts go away.

Body alive. Blood rushing and nerves tingling in the most delicious way as she unwrapped her arms from around him and his fingers tugged on the bottom of her shirt. Coarse hands pulled softened cotton up, down, away. Delicate lace was unhooked, stretched and gone. The air against her naked flesh was disarming and she instinctively shifted, feeling like she should cover up but she didn't. Her fingers quickly found the bottom of Vaas' signature red shirt. The shirt was discarded without care and his dirty, over-worn jeans and boots joined the pile. Vaas wrapped his hands under her ass and lifted her as if she was as light as a feather, an action that made his bandaged shoulder protest in pain. Her legs quickly wrapped around his waist and a moment later she was on the bed and lying on her back.

Kneading hands worked quickly up her shins, over smooth knees and sticky-hot thighs. And then they stopped, right at that lovely crease that separated her legs from aching wet flesh. Scar growled in frustration when she felt him stop, to which Vaas let out a chuckle. He was glad to know that she was weaker around him than she let on. His large callused thumbs skimmed her lightly and she squirmed, eliciting a low, devious laugh from Vaas. Hazely-green eyes peeked out from under thick lashes and she knew he was taunting her. Torturing her for his own fun.

He wrapped his so-large hands around her hips, pulling her weight down towards him. Anchoring his lean, muscular body over her with one hand pressed to the mattress beside her hip, his other hand skimmed over her hip, ass, thigh until he reached her knee to wrap it around him. Vaas' mouth pulled into a grin as he placed kisses on her stomach, slowly inching lower and lower. Heat rushed to Scarletts face and she squeezed her eyes shut. Her sex was mere centimetres from his mouth and she could feel it. She grasped at his shoulders tightly as he let out hot air against her.

Pulling her close enough for his lips to be against her, he took a long slow lick right up her sex, spreading the moisture with his tongue. He revelled in Scars gasp and started to flick his tongue against her clit, rubbing the tiny nub of nerves with the flat side of his tongue to alternate between the tip of his tongue.

A string of curses escaped her lips, which made him hum in approval and send vibrations up her body. She was starting to lose it, and he could tell. As his tongue worked her, his hands rubbed up and down her thighs, moving from her inner to outer with every few strokes of his tongue. It wasn't long before her hips started to rise off the bed. Vaas grinned against her as her hands made their way to his mohawk. She gripped the locks tightly as she started to violently shove her hips against his mouth. Moments later she was seeing stars behind her eyes as the first orgasm of the night passed through her.

Her eyes wide and chest heaving, she eyed Vaas. She hadn't expected him to be such a generous partner. Vaas grinned at her, eyes full of promise for more. He was taking his time with her, knowing this may be the only time he might be able to be with her. He wanted to claim her. He wanted to ruin her for any other men she would come across. That every time she would fuck someone, she would think of him.

His hand moved to moist, pink lips. "You're wet, mina. You're making a mess on my hand," and one finger entered her roughly. "Cojeme, that pussy is so tight, hot. Think you can take my cock yet?" His tone was borderline mocking, but his voice raspy and deep. "I bet you can't. You're tight little pussy needs to be dripping. Doesn't it? What do you want? You want me to fuck you with my fingers?" She moaned in response, past the point of articulation.

Scar's fingernails dug into his shoulders, eyes rolling back and squeezing shut at the pleasure. A second finger joined the first and without preamble he was fucking her hard and strong, without restraint. His other hand pressed down on her pelvis, making her hips stay completely still. Her nails were digging deeper into his shoulders, his lips placing lazy kisses onto any bit of skin he could reach and his stubble scratching her skin, leaving behind soft pink marks.

Her body was on fire, blazing, and Vaas could feel it. He could feel how hot her body was by the way the sweat was starting to pool under his hand. He could feel her body starting to react, starting to prepare itself for climax. She was starting to tighten around him, and her whimpers and pleas for more were starting to get louder. As he kept pushing his fingers, she started to scream loudly, just moans and groans, no words.

"Don't you hold back! Come on my hand!" he commanded, the hint of a smirk playing on the corners of his lips. The combination of his ministrations and his warm breath on her sweaty skin make her convulse and without the strength to hold on any longer she came. Again. Hard. Her legs quivered and shook while warm sticky liquid gushed out of her, coating his hand. Scarletts fingers loosened on his shoulders and lazily pulled them to rest on her stomach. His lips pulled into a cocky smirk and he pulled out his fingers.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Vaas!" She had no strength left in her to speak. She'd thought that she'd had good sex in her life, great even. However, this was on a new level.

Vaas chuckled at her words. Instead of cleaning his hand off he brought it to his cock as he rose up and headed for his pants, quickly grabbing a small packet out of the pocket. He stroked himself with her arousal and she couldn't take anymore. With a cocky smirk he put the foil packet between his lips, tearing it open and then rolling the condom down his length. He sat back down, so that he was kneeling between her legs.

His rough, calloused hand stroked her cheek softly as the sweet words, in a language she couldn't understand, were breathed into her ear. Without warning the pretty words were replaced with a deep rumble in his chest as his dirty hands thread tightly through her hair, pulling at the roots, as he buried himself inside her. She bit her lip when she felt a small, biting pain right at first because of his size but a second later the warmth spread until her skin felt kindled and her mind went blissfully blank with pleasure.

And then she was lost in the primal way he used her body, making her feel full of fire. She was light, she was energy in his arms, surrounded by his body. Her legs locked themselves around his waist, her fingers reaching to hold on to something, anything. His hands gripped every inch of her flesh; pinching her pink nipples, nails digging, lips pressing heavily on her throat.

Panting heavily, his eyes squeezing shut in ecstasy, Scar could tell that Vaas was trying his best to regain control. She couldn't help but smirk slightly, knowing that she was responsible for his bliss – that she could make him feel alive, burning from the inside out, the way he made her feel every time he pushed his length inside of her. She took pride in knowing that he felt exactly like her, out of control.

It was so much, too much, stimulation and as every inch of him slammed into her, her lips parted and eyes widened but were unseeing. To stop herself from screaming, she sunk her teeth into his shoulder while her nails were pulling at the skin on his back.

Vaas spoke again, panting each unfamiliar word out like they might be his last. She didn't know how she didn't break in two. Pride swelled inside Vaas to see her writhing beneath him, her head thrashing from side to side on the pillow, fingers desperately gripping him as he ruined her. Her teeth released his shoulder and she muttered out a string of curses. Her eyes squeezing shut and her toes curling. At the sounds of her voice he picked up the pace, quickly capturing her lips with his.

This was like nothing she's ever felt before. Her body was on fire, blazing, and Vaas could feel it. Sweat was starting to pool where their skin made contact. He could feel her body starting to prepare itself for another climax. Vaas' breathing became more frantic, his thrusts sloppier and quicker, and Scar knew that he was getting close as well. The coil inside of her own body growing more taut and she bit down on her bottom lip to keep from crying out.

She called out his name, over and over, as her body kept shaking. Every part of her was reacting to the impulses. Her arms shook, her legs shook, even her fingers twitched. With his own release just on the horizon, Vaas' actions only got more frantic. In one swift movement, he had flipped them over again – his back against the bed and her now above him, his straining cock still buried deep inside of her constricting walls.

Vaas' hands reached up to pull at her hair, tugging on the locks so that she was looking down at him. The ends of his mouth tilted up into grin, full of promise and want and something very dark.

"Ride me, mina," he snarled, thrusting up into her, the new angle sending different sensations across their skin.

"I can't-" she insisted, a sound between a cry and a moan slipping through her lips, all the while her hips swivelling on their own against his.

"Yes, you fucking can." He slammed into her once, twice, pushing her towards that final release once again. "I know you have one more in you."

She nodded frantically in reply, and Scar didn't even know that it was possible to be this close to an orgasm once again. Her hips moved against his until they both fell, desperately clutching to each other, riding out the intense waves together. Slowly, they both came down from their high, Scar moving off of Vaas to lie down beside him, the room silent except for their heavy breathing. He rolled off the condom, tied a knot at the end of it and tossed it in the general direction of the floor, deciding he'd throw it out later.

Lying side by side, Vaas was trembling and sweaty. It was pathetic and weak and he knew she could feel it, but he couldn't stop. He didn't fucking want to stop. He was so fucking high, both off of drugs and her. The high made Scars body feel like heaven and her curves, now covered in bruises and bite marks, were his only sanctuary. He felt like he could finally sleep, here next to _his_ woman, properly and truly sleep. With no nightmares. No dreams. Just her.

In that moment he didn't remember that everything he has, that everything that kept him breathing hung in the balance every single fucking day of his miserable existence. He was in so fucking deep and this was his only escape. This woman who was leaving when her job was done, but she was _his_.

He wanted to kill her, so she couldn't leave. He wanted to kill himself for being so fucking weak because of her.

He heard her laugh. "Shit, you're bleeding." She giggled again, with her rosy cheeks and tired eyes and her messy hair and swollen lips she was fucking gorgeous. Vaas couldn't take his eyes off of her. Her finger lazily traced a bite mark on his shoulder. "Whoops."

Vaas chuckled, a true and honest chuckle. "I hate to brake it to you, mina, but-" Vaas' finger trailed her shoulder. "Fucking so are you." He caught her lips with his. His hands tugged at the skin on her waist, pulling her closer.

This is what he lived for, even if he knew he shouldn't. She was his drug, and now that he had had a fix he would always be craving for more. This fix, that made his flesh feel burnt from the inside out, consumed him…and he let it swallow him whole.

He wanted to ruin her for other men, so she'd never be satisfied with anyone else. He didn't count on ruining himself in the process.

He pulled his lips off of hers. A small smile covered her lips and her eyes were closed, she was close to drifting off.

He was hers. But she could never be his.

With a frown Vaas sat up of the bed. _She's not yours._ He reminded himself and the darkness that he had fought so long to keep out was slowly crawling back in. The worst thing, however was that the thing to keep the darkness out was lying on the bed, tired and almost asleep. His hands were trembling as he stood up and reached for his jeans.

"What are you doing?" Scarlett mumbled, her voice understandably confused.

Vaas let out a deep breath and looked over his shoulder, with his jaw clenched and his brow furrowed. Her mouth was pulled down in a frown and her eyes were half open, fighting off sleep. It took every bit of his willpower to not crawl back next to her.

"Vaas?" She questioned again, a little more alert this time. When he didn't answer she stood up, making her way toward him. She wrapped her arms around his torso and placed a soft kiss onto his back, muscles clenching at the contact. Scarlett gasped as she realized, "I wasn't- You- It wasn't good for you... Was it?" Her hands loosened their grip on his torso. "That's why you're going. Fuck. I'm an idiot-"

Vaas squeezed his eyes shut and turned around, shutting her up with his lips. "It's not fucking that."

Scarlett was confused. "Then what...?"

_It's that you're not mine. It's that you'll go back to your fucking life soon enough and you'll forget all about me. It's that I can't give you what you deserve, because you deserve something _real_ and I can't be that. Because you are heaven and I'm a monster and a coward. _He wanted to say, but he said nothing. He didn't trust himself enough to.

Scarlett's eyes bore into his and she saw the storm and the agony rooted deep in them. She grabbed his hand, lacing their fingers. "Come back to bed."

Vaas was lost.

Vaas was ruined.

* * *

**A/N: Take a moment.**

**So Vaas' affection for Scar runs quite a bit deeper than any of us thought. Then again he's not the one who has been repressing their feelings.**

**And who's the rat? Any ideas?**

**The story of Scar singing Celine Dion in a karaoke bar is inspired by a story of Gemma Artertons (Who is my faceclaim for Scarlett. At least in my head.)**

**The song that Monroe sang is "Rose Tattoo", by Dropkick Murphys and it's so so so good. I feel like the whole vibe of the song goes well with the story.**

**A reminder that I have a Vaaslett (Yes, they have a ship name.) playlist, which I have a link to on my profile.**

**Also my tumblr is listed there.**

**As per usual, review, alert... post it to tumblr? Twitter? Whatever floats your boat.**

**Reviews are better...I was going to write "better than Vaas eating you out" but that wouldn't be exactly true.**

**Adiós amigos.**

**-Max**


	10. Chapter 10

****Disclaimer: I do not own anything in my stories except for the _fan_ fiction (including plots, OC's and so on). All the characters belong to the rightful owners. Any songs/poems/etc in my stories do _not_ belong to me unless stated otherwise.****

* * *

**A/N: Hello. How are you today?**

**This is another longer chapter (yay). Anyone who has been craving a proper Vaas backstory you'll love this chapter.**

**I'll get you get on with it.**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

"**Do you know, I always thought unicorns were fabulous monsters, too? I never saw one alive before!"  
"Well, now that we have seen each other," said the unicorn, "if you'll believe in me, I'll believe in you."**

He saw her sprawled naked across the small bed with her hair loose and shining in the small amount of moonlight that came through the window; and he couldn't help but to think of mermaids. When he was a small boy, barely six years of age, he heard some sailors speak of a story. Not so much of a story, rather a myth. A myth of beautiful women with long hair, tempting men with their stunning looks and beautiful voices to join them in the depths of the ocean. The sailors said that mermaids were the worst kind of monster one can meet out there, on the sea. Then laughed and noted the one exception to that, the kraken.

If one believed such tales.

Vaas always believed.

The Rakyat never went to the sea much, only out of absolute necessity. The Rakyat worshipped the earth and all that was apart of it, the rocks, the dirt, the trees. They only went to the sea when they needed to go fishing but even then they never strayed too far from the shore. He always wished they would, because he yearned to see what was behind the horizon. He wished to sea all of the sea monsters and beautiful creatures. Perhaps it was his fathers genes, the Argentinian pirates, that stirred the love for the sea and the thirst for adventure within him. Over time he learned to despise the sea and what it represented, not wholly of course. A part of him remained that wide-eyed young boy listening to the sailors tales.

Now, with his eyes trailing Scarlett's face, the faint freckles and the small scars. He couldn't help but to think of mermaids. They had been lying there together for a while. He was floating somewhere between awake and asleep.

She was a mermaid with her soft skin, slightly flushed and wet with the traces of his kisses. A mermaid with her long hair and eyes the colour of sunshine shining through whisky. He could drown in them. He could drown at the sight of her, goddess in the moonlight. His to worship.

She had called to him earlier, she said his name and gestured for him to come to her. And he obeyed.

Scarlett opened her eyes, rubbing the sleep out of them, while her mouth stretched to a yawn.

He would always obey.

And he would have to give her up sooner or later. She would be ripped away from him, but he couldn't help but let himself fall deeper. She was his heaven and she was his hell. He preferred this hell over any other that he had been offered. In this hell he was king and it was good to be king.

"I'm a little colour blind." Vaas blurted out before he realized, the thoughts of mermaids pushed away with his sudden confession.

"Hmmh?" Scarlett fully opened her eyes and turned her head so she was looking at him. "Wha...?" She trailed off.

He nodded slightly looking slightly sheepish at which Scarlett chuckled. "A side effect of... I don't even know which fucking drug."

That caused Scarlett to frown slightly and her eyes to widen. She, however, lifted up her left hand and confessed. "I have barely any feeling left in these three fingers." She motioned to the middle, ring and pinkie fingers. "Also I can't bend the pinkie." She tried to demonstrate and Vaas let out a small laugh when the pinkie indeed did not bend. Not properly anyway.

"I don't like gin."

"How so?" she questioned.

Vaas shrugged as well as he could. "Don't know."

"I was married once."

Vaas was taken so off-guard that he just started laughing. A full on belly laugh that made the bed shake slightly and at the sound of his laugh even Scarlett managed to crack a smile. "Seriously?"

"Yeah." Scarlett shrugged. "It was for like five minutes. A Vegas thing. It's no big deal."

"Not a big fucking deal? Does Kidd know?"

Scarletts eyes went wide and she froze. "No! And I swear to God if you tell him I will unman you myself."

"I don't doubt it, mina." Vaas chuckled ad she trailed patterns with the tips of her fingers on her chest. "How is it with Kidd now?" He wondered quietly. "Thinking that he was dead and now... Him not being."

Scarlett let out a slow breath, her fingers never faulting. "It's odd, to say the least." She averted her eyes from his face and instead turned them toward his chest. "I was completely broken after he died. I kept re-living the last moments I had with him, torturing myself. I was used to him going on jobs and he _always_ survived. I didn't think that mission would be any different." Scarlett paused, it was easier to talk to Vaas when she couldn't see his eyes. "It took me so long to function properly, after his death... Or supposed death. And when I did get over it... I didn't _really_ get over it. I was left with a hole in my heart and my live, so I set my sight on one thing; revenge. It filled the whole for a while and when I finally got my revenge..." Scarlett shook her head. "Revenge is a funny thing. Once you get it, you are completely satisfied but at the same you are less satisfied than when you still wanted it. The spot where your lust for revenge used to be is the same big black gaping hole, that same hole, that will continue to eat you alive."

"The hole, how did you fill it in the end?"

"I haven't." Scarlett admitted with a sigh. "I suppose now that I know Gareth is alive, the hole is supposed to be filled and it partly is. That doesn't stop me from feeling like it's not real though, I feel as if one day I will wake up and he will be dead again. Or dead still. Like none of this ever happened."

"All of this shit is quite real."

"I still can't decide whether that's a good thing or not." Scarlett mumbled, her fingers still tracing lazy patterns on his chest.

"You'll know when it's over." Vaas said, causing Scar's fingers to falter momentarily.

Scarlett let out a deep breath but didn't say anything in response. "What are we going to do about Citra?"

"What about her?" Vaas wondered, his body tensed slightly. Enough for Scarlett to notice.

"She kidnapped me." Scar started. "She poisoned me. You expect me to just let it go?"

"Mina. I made a promise to kill her once, I will keep my fucking word. If you try to go after her you will not succeed."

Scarlett raised her eyebrows and tilted her head up to look at him. "I will if you're by my side."

Vaas trailed his finger on her cheek. "Pedacito de cielo, it will be a suicide mission. At least with what is going on at the moment."

"What do you mean... What _is_ going on at the moment?" Her eyebrows pulled together in confusion.

The Pirate King let out a heavy breath and rubbed his eyes. "The fucking Rakyat took out a shipment boat off he fucking coast of the island. That ship was heading here. It held a large amount of guns and ammo, that would have been distributed all around the North fucking Island. Now that that's fucking gone, we're weak. If we're fucking lucky and Hoyt is in a good fucking mood we might get a shipment of ammo in the next two weeks. New guns in a month." He paused. "That is if we're fucking lucky."

"So we do nothing?" Scarlett frowned.

"Unless you want to be killed." Vaas noted.

Scarlett opened her mouth to ask Vaas about his history with Citra, about what really happened but faltered the moment the words were to leave her mouth.

"What is it?" Vaas wondered and Scarlett's fingers started drawing patterns again.

"I uh-" Scarlett mumbled. "I was wondering what happened between you and Citra that made you leave the Rakyat? And how'd you end up working for Hoyt?"

"Are you sure you want to fucking know?" He asked, not unkindly. "It's not a very pleasant story..." He let the sentence hang in the air as if he wanted to say more.

A small smile rose to Scarlett's lips. "Exposing your dark side doesn't frighten me. Hiding it does."

He sighed heavily. "What did Citra tell you?" Vaas wondered.

Just like that Scarlett was taken back to Citra's temple in her head. She tried to renumber what Citra had spoken about, when the only things she truly remembered was being in pain. "She... She spoke of how the island came to be."

_"Once, long ago." Citra began. "There was a lotus pond filled with clean water. The bank composed of smooth sand and the smell" Citra breathed in and closed her eyes, as if she was actually smelling it, "of blossoms moved the air. But a giant," she threw up her arms for emphasis. "lived beneath the pond's surface, devouring any who came to its edge. A warrior, from the northern kingdoms, heard of the giant and vowed to slay him." Her fingers trailed the tattoos on her body. "He painted tatau on his body and took power from the land of the dead. When he was ready, he walked the path to the lotus pond. And the giant rose from still waters, the Warrior raised his dagger. He cut the giant's head clean off its body. The skull of the giant fell to Earth and became our island..." She motioned around her and then placed both of her hands on her chest. "The descendants of the Warrior became the Rakyat, our people."_

_"Now a new giant has risen. Hoyt Volker lured my brother away with money and drugs. Power. Vaas left the tribe, his birth right. He became a monster." Citra said with anger. "Vaas was supposed to be the perfect warrior, but he did not walk to the end of his path. He didn't achieve his destiny." Citra shook her head. "And now he cannot return."_

"She said that Hoyt lured you away with money and drugs. That you were supposed to be the perfect warrior but instead you abandoned them and became a monster." She spoke, her head playing back Citra's words. "Then she poisoned me... And she spoke of your necklace."

_"You know the necklace Vaas has? The green one, carved out of mountain jade." Citras voice asked, but she was nowhere in sight. Instead, Scarlett was walking down the path into Vaas' camp. "It was our mothers originally. Then she gave it to me to give to whom I will. I gave it to my brother." The jungle around her was on fire and there were human heads just above ground, all of them dead. Some had visible wounds, some not. "It used to be in the shape of a twist. The single twist represents the joining together of two people."_

"And I saw my parents." Tears were welling up in hear eyes at the memory.

_On the path infront of her were Scarletts mother and father. It was when Scarlett was small because they were both so young. Scarlett remembered this vaguely. Scarletts father looked sharp in a black tailored suit, with his hair gelled and set. Her mother held her stomach with her left hand and the other was on her fathers cheek. Scarlett looked at them both with wide eyes, this was just before they were killed. Scarlett ran toward her mother, panicking._

_'Scarlett.' Her mother said, but her mouth didn't move. 'Come say bye to daddy, he'll be gone for a couple of days.'_

_'Dad.' Scarlett said automatically._

_Do not worry, Letty. I will be back, but until then you have to help mummy with the baby. Alright?' Her father smiled and his brown eyes lit up with joy._

Scarlett's lips parted in realization. Her mind was filled with the memories of her hallucinations, this was the first time she had allowed herself to fully think about it. "My mum was pregnant. Oh my God, my... My mum was pregnant."

Vaas' hand wrapped around her waist and pulled her tighter to his side.

_Scarlett tried to scream but no sound came out of her. Both of her parents vanished into thin air and when she looked down she saw their dead bodies both surrounded by blood. Her mother was couched over, hands on her stomach. Her father stared emptily and all joy had gone out of his eyes._

_"Even though sometimes people move away, their journey of life will have their paths cross again. The single figure eight represents the path of life, it is the eternity symbol." Citras voice sounded again and Scarlett saw Gareth. He was younger too, his eyes bloodshot as he extended his hand out to Scarlett._

_"The necklace broke when he left. I know not if he broke it or it broke itself."_

_Vaas' hysterical laugher came from next to her, she looked left and right but there was no one there. She turned her eyes forward again and there stood Vaas. Citra came up behind him, wrapping her slender arms around his torso. The native woman then locked eyes with Scarlett and a fire burned in them. Citra turned her head slightly, while keeping her eyes locked with Scarlett, and said something to Vaas in a language Scarlett didn't understand. Vaas looked different, he was clad in clothes made out of leather. The wound of his head was fresh, with blood still trickling down his eyebrow._

"At one point you were there." Scarlett explained, her eyes were wide but unseeing as she focused on her memories. "You were in Rakyat clothes and the wound on your head was fresh."

_"Vaas murdered my father. Vaas deserted his people. He is a traitor of the worst kind and I will kill him one day."_

"She said you murdered her father... And that she'll kill you one day." Scarlett said and felt like a bucket of cold water was dropped on her. She looked up to find Vaas' eyes boring into hers, she was drawn back to reality.

"And do you remember what I told you, after you took the antidote?" He wondered and Scarlett's cheeks went up in flames, to which Vaas only laughed.

Her mind automatically went to her rambling when they were in the old army shelter. She layed her cheek on his chest and avoided his eyes.

"_Citra said you killed your father."_

"Her_ father," Vaas said and the smell of cigarette smoke filled the air. "I killed _her_ father."_

"_Why?"_

_Vaas hesitated, he didn't want to open himself to her. Yet he was strangely tempted to do exactly that. Perhaps he was just that tired. "She asked me to."_

"_But she said-"_

"_Yeah, Citra does that. She is a wolf dressed like a sheep." Vaas said and Scar wiped the last of her tears away._

"_Did you know your father?"_

_Vaas shook his head. "No." He lit up another cigarette. "He was an Argentinian pirate, who ended up on the island for a couple of weeks. Him and mother fell in love. After he left mother found out she was pregnant and said it was from her fiancée, the leader of the Rakyat." He paused. "When I was fifteen, the leader of the Rakyat, the man who I believe to be my father found out. I didn't look like him anyway. Mother came to me and told the whole story. The leader killed mother, I wasn't in the camp when he did it. Then Citra convinced me to kill the leader... and I fucking did."_

_Scarlett kept staring at him, focusing on him as he spoke, because if she didn't she would start to focus on her hallucinations._

"_The thing, about our loved ones is that they fucking blindside you any chance they fucking get. My sister is a crazy fucking bitch. If I had known that then my life would have been so much fucking easier." Vaas shook his head. "I will kill her, I will put a bullet into her pretty little head for all of the fucking shit she had done."_

"_Why don't you have any tattoos?" She blurted out. "The rest of the Rakyat do."_

_Vaas took a swig from a bottle. "I was going to have. The Rakyat start getting tataus after they make their first kill. For the boys there is a ceremony at fifteen, the girls can participate if they wish. After you come back to the camp, you get a tatau. Then you will get tataus based on age and achievements. I did the ritual, when we got back to the camp... This was after he killed mother, we got back to the camp and I was seen unfit to receive a tatau." Unconsciously Vaas' hand went to the jagged scar along his head, his fingertips trailing it back and forth._

Scarlett nodded. "I remember. I remember all of it."

Vaas sighed. "I was devoted." He started explaining. "I was completely devoted to Citra. I loved her more than fucking anything. Citra... She was fucking insane. It was a year after her father, the tribe leader, killed my mother. After he found out that I was not his child, that Citra came to me. I was sixteen at the time, she was a year younger. She spoke of how we, how her and I would be better leaders for the tribe." He let out a bitter laugh.

"That we would be just and rule with a fair hand. We could unite our people and fight against any fucking treats from the outside world. The only thing standing in the way was her motherfucking father. So I killed him." He shrugged slightly. "I killed him because she asked me to, I thought it was the right fucking thing to do. Then after that, after she had become the perfect leader and I the perfect warrior, she became more and more goddamn unstable. She had me kill people who fucking doubted her, who questioned her methods and ways. She had me kill just to somehow justify the killing of her father. She grew more and more fucking deluded, more manipulative. Simply to serve her own purposes."

Scarlett went back to tracing patterns on his chest as he continued the story. Vaas relaxed at the contact.

"She drugged me a couple of fucking times, poisoned rather. She said that only the strongest warriors could live through the poison. She made me _cold_. Ruthless. The perfect warrior, that's what she called me. She was convinced that a fucking child between us would become even better than me." His voice was laced with disgust. "The child would be the perfect warrior and the perfect leader mixed together. I said no. The fucking bitch had manipulated me to do whatever the hell she said and I didn't want to be that. I knew that if I would have gone along with her plan, the plan with the child, that she would have fucking killed me the moment it was born. Hell, knowing her even sooner. So I told her what our motherfucking people thought of her, how she wasn't the ruler she was supposed to be. I was what... Eighteen? Nineteen? I left, promising to kill her. She made the same promise."

"I wandered to the south island. I craved oblivion. My drug use and my nature, my anger, it drove every one away. I sat in the same fucking shithole of a bar every single fucking night, at first people came to talk to me. They wanted to make friends with me, but soon they stopped. I would have too. It's what I fucking do, I drive people away. One night Hoyt came to that bar. He was a newcomer on the island and no one took the asshole seriously. Sure, he sold a couple of fucking people here and there, but he was small time. That same night I won against a couple of pissheads in a bar fight. After seeing that Hoyt invited me to the table." He was speaking but when Scar looked up, she saw that his eyes were unfocused. He was in another place in his head, reliving that night. She didn't stop drawing the patterns on his chest, but offered no comment. "By uh..." He paused, his hand finding Scars and he laced their fingers. His eyes, the curious mix of hazel and light green, garnished with gold specks, trailed her face as if to see if she was still there. Still listening.

Scarlett smiled in encouragement and gave his hand a little squeeze.

"By the morning I was gone." He broke eye contact, but their fingers stayed firmly locked. He couldn't bear to face the emotions in hers, knowing she would surely hate him after this. He had let his weakness turn him into a monster. His weakness toward Citra, his weakness toward the drugs and the power. "I was fucking gone. I was addicted, pumped full of cocaine and alcohol. When I felt like I couldn't drink anymore, Hoyt slid over more fucking cocaine. That allowed me to drink more. It was a week like that, or close to a week anyway. Drinking and then doing drugs just to allow me to fucking drink more. During that week I signed a contract, promising to help Hoyt take over the island."

"I thought it was the right thing to do. I thought this was the way to redeem myself, that I was more than a fucking spoiled blood Rakyat. If there is any way to get Citra out of power, I would do whatever it fucking takes. Even if it meant working with a fucking outsider. I still would, that has not changed." The scarred man sighed. "Hoyt liked what he saw in me, I suppose, because I became his right hand man. When his presence of the South Island became more concrete, I was handed the ownership of the North Island. Hoyt knew my fucking sister was here, he knew that I know this island like the back of my fucking hand. I got my little fucking army, some weapons and a shitty ass boat. I did his dirty work, he paid me money, drugs and some other shit from the rest of the world. Entertainment mostly movies and music."

"After a couple of years. I realized that Hoyt was the same as Citra. He had fucking manipulated me the same way. I had not redeemed myself, I had only made it fucking worse. I thought about leaving."

"Leaving?" Scarlett mumbled, when Vaas had been quiet for too long.

"Mmh." He nodded. "Leaving. I thought about leaving this fucking island. But it would be impossible. I am not fit for the outside world. Perhaps if I would have left when I left Citra, maybe then I could have made a fucking life for myself. Now it's too fucking late. The drugs, the... bloodlust and Hoyt. Hoyt would never let me fucking leave, he'd find me and kill me." He let out a small laugh. "I couldn't function there. I've seen your cities, built out of concrete with people like ants crawling in them. Every single fucking one trying to convince themselves that they're happy." Vaas shook his head. "I can't leave this island."

Scarlett didn't know what to say. She couldn't come up with anything that would offer him comfort. Hell, she couldn't come up with _anything_, so instead of talking she placed a kiss on his chest. And another. And then another one. Every time going a little bit higher until she reached his neck. She placed the last kiss on his jaw and then let out a heavy breath.

"So what will you do?" Scarlett wondered. Those weren't words of encouragement or comfort, but it was the best she could do.

"I will kill her. One day." Vaas admitted shrugging. "I will do what I have been doing this far. My mother used to say that every man who is unwilling to fight for what they want deserve what they get." He said. Before Scarlett had a chance to say anything, he changed the subject. "So how are we going to go about catching the rat?"

Scarlett groaned and buried her face in his neck. "It's not even morning yet, Vaas." She lifted her head with a small smile. "How about we talk business when it's actually light out, huh? Like normal people?"

"And what do you suppose we do until sunrise, mina?" A small smirk was playing on Vaas' lips.

"I have a few ideas."

She kissed him, the feeling of his warm and rough lips on hers made her smile against his mouth. With a quick and seemingly effortless movement, despite his damaged shoulder, Vaas moved Scarlett on top on him. Their tongues met, stroking slowly and teasingly. She can feel the slight tremble in his hands and she couldn't decide whether it was the lack of drugs in his system or was he just nervous. He bit her lower lip and she moved her hands to his chest. His heart was beating steady, a little faster than normal, but steady. His shaking hands were caused by the drugs, she frowned slightly. He moved his hand to her hair, placing light kisses on her neck which had Scarlett humming in approval. She turned to meet his lips, kissing him again, when a shout from outside the building made them freeze.

"VAAS!" Someone shouted. A moment later a pair of shuffling feet was heard on the dirt outside. There was more shouting in a language Scarlett didn't understand, mixed in with a few more shouts of his name.

The scarred man groaned at the interruption. "Motherfucking pieces of fucking shit." He swore, which made Scarlett laugh. "Can't do anything on their fucking own. Fucking cocksuckers."

Scarlett layed her forehead on his. "You should go, King."

Vaas' eyes flashed at the nickname and he pressed his lips to hers. "You should call me that more often."

"We'll see." Scarlett said with a wink and climbed off from on top of him.

Vaas got up and dressed quickly. Before he left, he turned at the doorway and looked as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't. He didn't say anything, no goodbyes or promises of any more nights like that. Perhaps that was best, Scarlett decided. They weren't lovers per se, a relationship between them would never work, but there was something so strong between them. She knew she felt it and she sure as hell knew he did too.

But it was her _job_ to be here. Scarlett curled on her side and pulled the sheet over her. This wasn't a vacation, this was a mission. There had been so much bloodshed already. She knew that the best, most rational thing in this situation would be to find the rat as fast as possible, collect the money and get the hell out. All the while avoiding Vaas' bed, or Vaas in her bed. But she had made mistakes. She revealed her mission to Vaas and now she was in even further.

The worst part was that she liked it. It felt so natural to be entangled with Vaas during the wee hours of the morning. She wished it wasn't. When he was in the camp, she had no nightmares. She didn't know how to explain that, because it wasn't logical. She liked the way they were able to share their souls and small secrets. She had told him about her 24 hour marriage for gods sake. But it felt so good. She knew he wasn't going to judge her no matter what came out of her mouth, because neither of them could help who they are.

He told her all about his past and it was obvious that he never did that. Even Gareth wasn't sure what had happened between Vaas and Citra and Gareth was one of Vaas' most trusted men. He was able to open up to her and that terrified her, but she liked it.

_x_

Vaas, Gareth and Carlos, among a handful of others, were gone for the whole night. They had taken Ash with them, because despite having a busted leg, which actually had healed quite well, he was still able to work as a mechanic.

Scarlett enjoyed the company of Kip for the whole day. For the better part of the day they listened to music. During meal time she was able to talk to a few pirates who she'd had little to no interaction with and listen to their stories. The whole day Smiley's eyes were on her, but it wasn't the normal leering way, it seemed like he was curious. Scarlett didn't confront him about it.

The absolute diversity of the pirates still amazed her. Today alone she spoke to people from Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil, Namibia, Kenya and Kazakhstan. The man who was from Kazakhstan raised a small red flag for her.

She knew the person who she was looking for had connections to Russia and Eastern Europe. Although Kazakhstan is in Central Asia, but it was the closest she had gotten this far. The man went by the name of Serik and was a man of few words. The conversation between them was short, he only spoke three sentences to her.

Serik however was a foot soldier at best. She was looking for someone higher up in rank, who could get their hands on sensitive information. She made a mental note to ask Vaas about him when he returned.

Her bed felt awfully empty that night and she wasn't sure what she thought about that.

_x_

The next morning, after a night of nightmares, she nursed a bottle of beer with her fruit. When she was halfway through the bottle, there was the unmistakable noise of music blasting in the distance. All of the men around her lightened up a little at that and ten minutes later a convoy of trucks pulled into the camp. Vaas hopped out of the first truck with Maccie and Carlos in tow.

"We've hit jackpot boys!" Carlos yelled with a wide smile. While Carlos and Vaas went toward the back of the truck, Maccie ran to curl up at Scar's legs. Instinctively she started scratching the top of his head.

Fifty to sixty people, all bound, were escorted out of the trucks and toward the part of the camp where the hostage cages were. Scarlett had been avoiding that part of the camp ever since her payback to Coin-Man. She didn't know what happened to him, since she hadn't seen him since. She knew he was probably not there anymore, but she didn't know what she'd do if he was. She was tempted to go and look, perhaps that might put an end to her nightmares.

Soon all of the men who were on the convoy were relieved by the ones who had finished breakfast. Gareth took a seat at the table with Scarlett, Carlos and Vaas in the one next to theirs. Scarlett was surprised when Maccie stayed with her instead of curling up at Vaas' feet.

"You're starting with the alcohol early."Gareth noted, eyeing the bottle of beer. "How come?"

Scarlett swallowed, the memories of her very vivid nightmares returning. She shook her head and offered no further answer. She could feel Vaas' eyes burning on her skin.

"Nightmares?" Gareth asked.

"I-" Scarlett was taken by surprise. "Yeah. How'd you guess?"

Gareth offered a small smile. "You used to have them when you were little."

She nodded in understanding. She used to have them after her parents died. The conversation moved on and Vaas' eyes were almost always on her. They spoke of how they'd have to go the the port the next day, because there were more new hostages coming. They had definitely hit the jackpot, a small cruise ship and a yacht. Throughout the conversation Vaas silently undressed the woman with his eyes. He could see patches of her long legs through the holes in her jeans and he noted, with a smug smile, that she was wearing a t-shirt instead a tank top. Definitely because she wanted to hide the bite and scratch marks.

Ever so often he noticed her shift almost uncomfortably under his gaze, but soon took to staring back at him. As if challenging him.

"See something you fucking like?" he asked her, his voice came out lower and more seductive than he had planned. The look she gave him in response was pure sin. Lustfully hooded eyes made contact with his and the sly knowing smile that crossed her lips made him want to kiss it off her.

Gareth raised both of his eyebrows, glazing back and forth between the two.

"I see something I like alright." She said, got up and nicked his beer bottle. The beer was a better brand than what she had drank before. She smiled at him as innocently as possible. "Cheers." She raised the bottle toward him a little and took off toward her quarters.

Vaas shouted a couple of swears after her, which only made her smile wider. He also took note of how many men leered at her as she walked away and Vaas was over taken by a great desire to rip off her clothes and just take her on the floor of Turkey Point, in front of everyone. Claim her as his.

_x_

"What do you know of a man named Serik?" Scarlett asked.

They were in the warehouse that held Vaas' ruined painting, the one where they shared their first kiss.

"Serik?" Vaas wondered, his head tilted as he looked at the painting. He was swaying slightly with drugs. "He's decent with a gun. Hasn't gotten himself fucking killed yet, so that's a plus." Vaas shrugged. "How come?"

"Just wondering. It's possible he's the rat, but I... I don't think so." Scarlett said, her fingers picking at the label on the bottle. "Do you know if he has any connections to Russia?" She set down the bottle and lit up a cigarette.

Vaas shook his head. "No fucking clue. He sat most of his life in jail, before washing up here. That much I fucking know."

Scarlett nodded with a heavy sigh. She leaned herself back so that her weight was on her hands, while her legs dangled off the table she was sitting on. She'd have to ask Kip more about the man, he might know something.

"You'll find him." Vaas said, slowly walking toward her.

"I will." Scarlett said and Vaas settled between her legs. She lazily hooked one around his thigh. She shifted her weight so she was properly upright again. She took a deep drag from the cigarette."I do like your confidence in me."

"I've yet to see you fucking fail, mina." Vaas said, his hands stroking her thighs.

"How's the shoulder?" Scarlett questioned, trying to steer the conversation to a different topic.

Vaas chuckled. "It has three fucking holes in it. It could be better."

"You know that's not how I meant it, asshole." Scarlett rolled her eyes but couldn't fight the smile that was plastered on her face.

"Ouch." Vaas said, mocking hurt.

Scarlett pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and Vaas' eyes flashed. She took a drag from her cigarette and let the smoke seep out of her mouth. Vaas hunched his shoulders just slightly, so that their faces were closer but he was still towering over her. She locked eyes with him and took another drag, but this time blew the smoke onto his lips so that he breathed some of the smoke in.

Her free hand went to his chest and formed a fist, so she was clinging the fabric of his shirt. Scar gave him a little tug and smirked. She straightened her back and licked her lips, as his parted ever so slightly. The teasing was almost like a game, who would give in first. Their lips were hovering only centimetres apart from each others.

"Scarlett?" They heard Gareth shout.

Scarlett dropped her hand and Vaas quickly took a step back, grabbing the beer bottle from the table. Her heart was drumming when a moment later Gareth walked into the warehouse.

"There you are, I've been looking for you all over."

"Here I am." She said, taking a last drag from the cigarette before putting it out against the sole of her shoe and throwing the butt away.

Gareth's eyes were flickering between her and Vaas. "Asher was in need of you."

Scarlett hopped down from the table and started walking toward the door. It took all of her self control not to look back at Vaas.

_x_

After lunch and a chat with Ash, Scarlett decided to go to the spot where she last layed eyes on Coin-Man. She doubted it would ease her nightmares but she couldn't know until she tried. She tried not to think about whether or not Vaas would occupy her bed again or not. She didn't even know if he was going to be in camp for the night. With trembling hands she walked through the camp.

"Scarlett?" She heard someone shout as she walked through the area with the hostage cages, toward the back of the camp where the head garden was. She stopped and looked around, hearing nothing but the cries of the hostages.

"Scarlett Vincent! Scarlett!" Came the shout again, this time she focused enough to identify that the shouter was male. She traced the shout to a cage, which held five hostages. One of them was a man with light brown hair, blue eyes and freckles.

"Oh my God." Scarlett's mouth fell open. "David?"

"Scarlett! Help me!" David shouted again and Scarlett quickly raised her finger to her lips, her eyes on Smiley who was scanning the edge of the camp.

"David. I will come back okay? At this moment I may be more trouble than help. Trust me." She said. There was no knowing what these men would do to him if they knew she knew him. "I need you to stay... here." She grimaced at her poor choice of words.

_x_

Dinner time was as joyous as ever. All of the pirates were happy because a big pay day was on the horizon, so the music was blasting and the alcohol was flowing.

"How good are you with undercover work, Scar?" Carlos asked her. Vaas, who was sitting next to Carlos, raised his eyebrows.

She froze, her heart letting out a panicked jolt against her ribs. She looked up and they locked eyes. "Good. How come?"

"I think we have a little job for you." Carlos said.

"We do?" Vaas wondered, but Carlos didn't ask much as glance at him.

"There is a man who owes us money, he is also very fond of brunettes."

"I didn't peg you boys for the sneak and stab kind." Scarlett noted.

Carlos smiled a little. "We're not. Trouble is, the pendejo is under Hoyt's protection. We can't just go shoot up his place. We need the money, or at least the location of the money, and no bodies."

Scarlett nodded. "I'm pretty sure I can help you with that."

"Wonderful!" Carlos said. "You start tomorrow."

It was about an hour later when one of the pirates who was on patrol, came running to Turkey Point. He spoke quickly in a language that Scarlett didn't understand. By the time he finished the sentence, every pair of eye in earshot was on her.

"What?" Scarlett asked cautiously.

Vaas stood, leaning both of his hands on the table. "Apparently there is a hostage screaming your name."

_David._

_Fuck._

* * *

**A/N: And we are at the end once again.**

**A reminder that I have a Vaaslett playlist, which I have a link to on my profile. **

**I also have a playlist solely for Vaas there. (Also linked.)**

**Also my tumblr is listed there. (You can totally come and fangirl with me over practically everything.)**

**As per usual, review, alert... post it to tumblr? Twitter? Whatever floats your fucking boat.**

**I feed off of reviews so don't forget to leave one.**

**Reviews are better than being a hostage.**

**Adiós amigos.**

**-Max**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything in my stories except for the _fan_ fiction (including plots, OC's and so on). All the characters belong to the rightful owners. Any songs/poems/etc in my stories do_ not_ belong to me unless stated otherwise.**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

"_**it's rather curious, you know, this sort of life!" **_

"Why the hell is a hostage screaming your name, Scarlett? Hm?" Vaas asked in a clipped tone.

Scarlett swallowed. Vaas had used her full name which automatically made her nervous. "I don't know who it is." She lied. "Perhaps he heard my name from one of your fucking men, how the hell am I supposed to know?" She raised her eyebrow and her stomach twisted, she didn't know if faking ignorance was the right way to go or not. She had made a snap decision and now she would get to live with the consequences.

With a sigh Vaas sat down, rubbing his temples with the tips of his fingers. He then spoke back to the man who had come running moments before, Scarlett couldn't understand a word he was saying. Some of the pirates kept their eyes on her, she tried to ignore it them the best she could.

The pirate who received the order took off running again, toward the direction of the hostage cages.

"What are you going to do with him?" Scarlett asked.

Vaas eyed her, his mouth a thin line and his eyebrows pulled together just enough to form a small wrinkle between his eyebrows. "The hostage will go into the head garden for now. Unless you have a fucking problem with that?"

Scarlett swallowed and shook her head. "Why would I have a problem with that?"

Vaas said nothing. He grabbed the bottle which sat on the table right infront of him and stood up. His eyes were on Scarlett and he looked like he wanted to say something, instead he walked away with heavy steps. Maccie followed him, happily wagging his tail.

Scarlett's eyebrows pulled together. She couldn't figure the man out. They flirted, they fucked, they kissed and there was something in his eyes that made her wonder how far his interest in her ran. And then there were moments when Vaas looked at her like she was nothing. She let out a large breath and took a sip of her drink.

"What was that all about?" Gareth asked, when he neared the table which she was sitting at.

Scarlett shrugged. "Vaas is... I don't know, acting strange. I can't really describe it better than that."

Gareth grumbled something under his breath, which Scarlett didn't catch. She didn't bother asking what he'd said, she had a feeling she didn't want to know. No doubt something unintelligent about Vaas.

It was a while later that Scarlett noticed Serik walk off toward Kip's quarters. Which was unusual not only because that was the opposite direction of where he spent his nights, but because Kip was still drinking and laughing in the lap of the ginger man, whose name she had yet to learn.

"I think I'm gonna call it a day." Scarlett announced and took off. She headed toward the direction of the house that her room was in first and once she was out of eyeshot of the Turkey Point, she headed toward Kip's quarters.

She quietly sneaked underneath the boarded up window that faced the jungle. She was able to find a small crack in the wall through which she could see Serik's legs. The man was shuffling around the room like he was looking for something. Not long after Serik picked up a satellite phone from a crate on the ground. Scarlett slowed her breathing, trying to listen over the thumping music that could be heard from Turkey Point. Serik dialed a number and sat into Kip's chair. The conversation that followed after was everything she didn't expect.

She hoped that it was going to be a business call, that her initial thoughts about the man were correct. Instead the mans voice was filled with affection when he spoke. He spoke more in those few minutes she was there listening that she had heard him every speak.

This wasn't what she was looking for, this wasn't who she was looking for. Serik wasn't the rat. He was a foot soldier and a killer, but he wasn't the rat. Feeling more than a little defeated, Scarlett sneaked away from Kip's quarters. Quickly checking that no one was behind her, she turned the corner and ran face first into Carlos.

"I uh..." She was flustered.

Carlos smiled, rising his eyebrows.

"Nevermind. Doesn't matter." She smiled, shaking her head and hoping he wouldn't ask further questions. She had been too careless, only checking behind her but not behind the corner.

"Sure." Carlos said. "We leave early in the morning. I'll wake you before sunrise, so you should go get some sleep."

"I'll do that." Scarlett nodded, her eyes turning to the pitch black sky. She mumbled a quick goodnight and hurried toward the direction of her room. When she was inside the shitty hut that held her room she let out a deep breath, she had almost been caught sneaking by Carlos. She made a mental note that she needed to come up with a list of reasons why she would logically be coming from the direction of the jungle in the middle of the night.

She closed the door to her room behind her and her attention was immediately brought to the mass of a person sprawled across her bed, lightly snoring. A small smile sneaked to her lips without her realizing. Trying to be as quiet as possible she removed her jeans and shirt and grabbed the shirt she had borrowed from Vaas, off the back of a chair. Clad in pirate red she climbed next to the Pirate King and pulled a sheet over them.

Immediately aware of another body next to his, Vaas wrapped his arm around Scarlett's waist and pulled her closer. The little moonlight that came through the small window cast harsh shadows across the scarred mans face and Scarlett couldn't resist the urge to run her fingers across his jaw.

He was hot and cold toward her and she was terrified to know what she actually felt toward him. Sure they had fucked and kissing him felt like she was on fire in the best way possible. She had given into everything she had been suppressing the whole time she'd been on that god-damned island, but she couldn't admit her true feelings to herself.

She wouldn't.

Because that would make it all real. She knew whatever was going on was drawing closer to the end with each passing day. She was sure that if she asked him, he would tell her how he felt. But that too would be too much. She had seen the broken man that lied underneath the harsh exterior the night he'd thought she didn't want him to stay. She couldn't fix him, she knew that and she hoped that he knew that too. Whatever was between them was playing with fire but neither of them seemed to be able to stop. They would both end up burned and scarred more than they already were, that was for certain.

This island was an alien world to her, no matter how much she tried to blend in. This was his world with the blood on the sand and the empty bullet shells and the cries of the hostages. She could handle it for a while, as long as she needed to, but in the end it would be too much. Perhaps that's why it was so easy to be with Vaas in her bed. This was his world and she was merely trying to survive in it.

She didn't know if she needed _him_ next to her... or if she just needed someone. Someone to warm her bed.

Her fingers gently trailed his face and his grip around her waist tightened just a little. She knew Vaas suffered from night terrors and that was one of the reasons for his irregular sleeping and heavy drug use, not to mention the drinking. Scar wished she could help him, really help him, but on this island it's impossible. Merely the things it takes to survive here are enough to drive anyone to insanity.

She vaguely remembered Carlos' drunken speech what now seemed like a lifetime ago.

"_Yknow," Carlos started. "It fucking sucks that you have to leave."_

"_I'm not going anywhere." Scarlett said, confused._

_Carlos shook his head. "No, not yet. But you _will_!"_

"_And why does that suck?"_

"_Because you make us so much better! I mean, Gareth is fucking ecstatic to have you around! Even Monroe likes you, he rarely really likes anyone. And fucking Vaas, güey, Vaas!"_

"_What about Vaas?" Scarlett asked._

"_He's different with you around. Fucking... Fucking..." Carlos shook his head ."He's better. It's as if the two of you balance each other out." Carlos grabbed a bottle from a table on one side of the room and emptied the contents into his stomach. The next things out of his mouth were in Spanish, so she didn't understand any of it. Carlos sat on the edge of the bed and Scarlett leaned against the doorway. Perhaps it was better that she didn't know what he was saying, because the way he looked at her was like a thirsty man begging for water. "You do realize, that it's fate that you're here right?" Carlos asked. "Nothing will be the same after you go. Things are better with you here, so obviously they will be worse with you gone." He ran his hands through his hair and shook his head. "Nothing happens just because."_

_Scarlett frowned. "Go to sleep, Carlos."_

_The man kept going. "You don't see it do you. You don't see the changes... Of course you don't see the them."_

"_Changes?" Scarlett pried and took a seat on a chair._

"_The way people are. Kidd was a bitter old man, I'd seen him smile like three times and now that's all he does! He drank himself to oblivion almost every night." Carlos explained. "And Vaas... Vaas has not spent this long in the camp in years. He has always been on the move, constantly doing rounds... Spending the maximum of two nights here. Then off again. He shouts less too, makes more jokes that are actual jokes." Carlos sighed._

She hoped that after she was gone things wouldn't change that much. Sure, Kidd would be sad and grumpy but he'd figure out a way to go on. She didn't know about Vaas, she didn't even dare to venture a guess. She figured he'd forget about her the moment she was off the island, he did seem like the type.

"Mina." Vaas mumbled, stirring in his sleep. "Sé que mintió acerca de la rehén."

Scarlett didn't say anything, mainly because she didn't know if he was actually awake or if he was sleeptalking. Also she couldn't understand what he said. Her fingertips paused at the hollow of his neck and she scooted closer to him. In a matter of moments she was in a deep sleep.

_She walked through the Rakyat temple, through Citra's temple. She was unafraid as she climbed the steps of a tall ruin. She couldn't turn around, she couldn't even look anywhere other than forward though she paid no mind to that. The fires burning on each the edges of the steps illuminated her way up and she could feel the heat of it on her skin. She climbed and climbed and climbed._

_When she finally reached the top she saw Vaas kneeling. He was clad in leather, both of his arms covered in tataus and his hair was long and in dreadlocks. In front of him was the Rakyat Leader, the faceless man who raised Vaas. She didn't know how she knew that, but she did. And beyond him there was fire that reached the sky. _

"_Arise, warrior." A deep voice grumbled around her, shaking the earth on which she stood. Yet there was no fear in her._

_Vaas stood and the Leader of the Rakyat handed him a beautifully carved knife. The man kept speaking but no matter how hard she concentrated she couldn't understand what he was saying even though he spoke in English._

_Vaas turned around and Scarlett smiled wide. Vaas was younger looking, less tired and had eyes filled with happiness. He didn't have the large scar running across his face._

_Scarlett looked down and saw a large bowl in her hands. She brought the edge of the bowl to her lips and drank all of the liquid inside of it. Vaas now stood infront of her, smiling a kind smile. The Ink Monster rose through the fire that reached the sky and the heat radiating from the fire grew hotter._

"_Scarlett." Vaas said and she looked at him. The moment their eyes connected his eyes were no longer his and he plunged the carved knife into her chest._

_Thump. Thump. Thump. She heard the blood pulsing in her ears._

_With a gasp she looked to her chest, which indeed held the knife. She looked back up and saw Citra and she spoke in words that she didn't understand and she felt pressure on her chest._

_Thump. Thump... Thump._

"_You are not worthy of him outsider." Citra smiled and whispered."Die."_

With a gasp Scarlett's eyes flew open. She felt frozen even though her heart was racing and the moment she registered that all of it had been a dream she was able to let out a breath. Her hands went to her chest as she sat up in bed. She only felt the jagged scar that Coin Man gave her under her fingertips.

Her attention was then brought to the relentless knocking on the door.

_Carlos._ She thought, remembering his words about waking her before sunrise. Her eyes went next to her, searching her empty bed for Vaas but there was no trace of him. Her eyebrows pulled together, he had been here when she went to sleep...

Hadn't he?

"Scarlett!" She heard Carlos call in between the knocking.

"Yes!" She got up and opened the door. "Yes?"

Carlos' hand was frozen in air, mid-knock. His eyes immediately travelled to the shirt she was wearing, Vaas' shirt, his eyebrows lifted in the slightest but said nothing about it. "¡Buenos días! We leave in fifteen minutes. I have your breakfast food in the car.." He lowered his hand. "Fifteen minutes." He said and turned to leave.

"Okay." Scarlett nodded and closed the door. She quickly yanked the large shirt off, changed her underwear and threw on her jeans and a clean shirt. She ran a brush through her hair and then pulled it to a bun on top of her head, lastly she added a little bit of moisturiser to her face and sunblock to every centimetre of visible skin. She then grabbed her weapons and was out the door.

She found Carlos leaning against one of the trucks with a cigarette between his fingers. Clad in a tight black t-shirt, dark green cargo pants and a red bandanna around his neck, he looked like a male model.

His eyes took note of her weaponry and nodded at her. "Lets go, then."

"So what's the plan for today?" Scarlett asked as Carlos started driving toward the small port. She had a small plastic bag on her lap, that contained her breakfast.

Carlos licked his lips. "We're heading to Churchtown through AM12 and the Old Mines."

"I'm guessing those are outposts?" She spoke, while munching on a sandwich.

Carlos nodded. "Then from there, we have to head to 's to get some drugs and then to Badtown."

Scarlett smiled. "I'm guessing Badtown lives up to it's name?"

"Oh you have no idea." Carlos chuckled.

By the time Scarlett was done with her small breakfast, they were at the port. Instead of boarding the larger boat that she first got to Vaas' island with, they headed toward a smaller and faster looking boat.

Scarlett enjoyed Carlos' company, which made the whole day rather pleasant. At AM12 they looked over the loot from the yacht raid the previous day. The crates were packed with fancy clothes, jewellery, and other knick-knacks they could get a pretty penny for. In spite the good loot, Carlos was worried about the level of ammo and guns they had. Scarlett remembered Vaas talking something about how The Rakyat had blown up a shipment.

The hostages that would be going to Vaas' island later in the day were there too, but when Carlos went to look them over for transport Scarlett opted to stay behind. With David in Vaas' camp and from the same yacht the rest were from, she knew there may be someone else there who could possibly recognise her. That was the reason she was telling herself, in any case.

At AM12 she saw how much the men respected Carlos. He wasn't feared the same way that Vaas was, but that's probably a good thing. Seeing as he is Vaas' second in command. She heard the way the men spoke about her, she could understand little but the tone of the conversation was revealing in itself. They were done at AM12 before noon and set off toward the Old Mines as soon as they could. It wasn't even noon yet and it was absolutely scorching hot, and it would only get hotter for the next couple of hours.

She was constantly taken off guard with how beautiful the island itself actually was. It looked like a tropical heaven, the old ruins and the lush jungles. It was strange to think that an island that beautiful would host a rotten core, filled with bloodshed, rape, drugs and death.

The stop there was rather short, they didn't even get out of the truck. Carlos spoke how the Old Mines are quite impressive and how he'll show them to her the next time they're around. Today they were there just to pick up Monroe. Then it was off to see Dr. Earnhardt.

"Who is this guy anyway?" Scarlett asked. She knew he provided Vaas with some questionable drugs, but that was it.

"Doctor Alec Earnhardt, a chemist originally, makes his living producing and selling drugs on the black market to pirates and privateers alike. Vaas just gets the best shit usually, then again, he pays the highest price. Newspaper records show that he left London for Rook in 2006 after his two-year-old daughter, Agnes, tumbled out the window of his tenth floor apartment." Monroe explained.

"Oh jesus."

"Yeah. Dr. E self medicates a lot and it's always a fifty-fifty chance of catching him during one of his episodes." Carlos said.

"What happens during his episodes?" Scarlett wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer.

Carlos shrugged. "He sees and talks to his dead daughter. You know... The usual." Sarcasm was dripping from his voice when he said the last sentence.

The Doc's house was on the other side of the island and Scarlett managed to doze off on the ride there. The hum of the engine and the conversation between Carlos and Monroe kept the nightmares away. The next time she opened her eyes was when she heard the engine cut off.

"You staying here or coming with?" Carlos asked.

"With." Scarlett said automatically. There was no way in hell she was being left behind. She rubbed her eyes before getting out the truck and joining Monroe outside. Carlos exited the vehicle as well and they started walking up a small path. They were on a cliff-side and soon a large white, what could only be called a mansion on this island, came into view.

"That mansion looks absolutely nothing like this island. Like it doesn't belong here." Scarlett noted.

"It was constructed by a British business tycoon just after the end of World War I, and was then abandoned when the tycoon decided that the Baltimore And Ohio Railroad would make a better investment than a house on an island in the middle of nowhere."

"Smart man." Scarlett noted.

They didn't head into the house, instead they went to an overgrown greenhouse which was next to it. Inside was an older man with greyish white hair and an old lab coat. His face was wrinkly and sunken, and there were spots of rash and scabs on his face. His eyes were surrounded by dark bruises, his hands trembling and mouth mumbling words so fast they made no sense.

He was a typical junkie. Or at least as typical you can be in this godforsaken place.

"Doctor Earnhardt." Carlos said as he stepped into the greenhouse.

"Ah. Carlos!" The doctor chuckled. "You didn't happen to see Agnes outside playing did you? She hasn't come back in a little while. I'm worried she might get hungry." Despite him possibly living in London at some point he still had the Oxford accent.

Scarlett kept her face neutral as she realized that Earnhardt was going through another one of his episodes.

"I came to pick up. Standard amount, plus a bag of the red." Carlos spoke, paying no attention to the mention of Agnes.

The doctor stared at him for a little while, his eyes were unfocused but he soon snapped out of it. "Oh yes, yes. Here." The doctor went to the back of the greenhouse and brought a black dufflebag so heavy he could barely lift it. He then took a see-through bag from a shelf and dropped a bowl full of red berry like things into it. "That should keep him happy for a while." The doctor gave the bag to Carlos and then his eyes caught hers.

Carlos lifted the bag like it weighed nothing and shoved the bag with the red drugs into it. The whole time the doctor stared at Scarlett, as if confused. He looked like he wanted to say something but he slowly started shaking his head.

Scarlett's eyebrows pulled together in confusion and she took a few steps back.

"Thanks doc." Carlos said.

_x_

Vaas was overlooking the transportation of the hostages from the mainland. They were transporting the other half of hostages from the mainland. The hostages were terrified and crying and rich enough to drown in their money, which meant that soon Vaas and the pirates would be too. Given of course that the rich kids' families would pay for them, but Vaas was confident they would.

The sun was blazing down, it was another one of those hot-as-hell days with not one cloud in the sky. All of the men were sweating and weak from dehydration, despite that Vaas stood on shore with his arms crossed and a satisfied smile on his lips.

His mind was going through the bits and pieces of the dream he had last night. It was something he wouldn't admit to anyone, but he couldn't deny that there was a small part of him that yearned just the slightest.

_The two were sitting on a beach, Scarlett clad in a light sundress with her hair messily up in a bun and her eyes shining. Vaas lightly stroked her arm with the fingertips that held a half smoked cigarette. The heat of the day was settling down as the sun was nearing the horizon, casting a warm orange glow across the ocean sky._

"_What would you name our kid?" He wondered. His hands weren't trembling, nor did his heart quicken. He was completely calm, which for some reason was so odd but he couldn't understand why._

_Scarlett smiled. "I've always thought that I'd name a boy Edward."_

_Vaas lifted his eyebrows and grimaced. "Edward?Like who?"_

"_Thatch, Teach, pronounce it how you will."_

_A chuckle rumbled deep in Vaas' chest, sending vibrations through his body and hers. "You want to name our kid after Blackbeard?" Vaas shook his head. "Fucking Blackbeard. Plus, Edward is a terrible name, it has to be a strong name. So I can't possibly let you name our child Edward."_

_Scarlett let out an unladylike snort, finally turning to face Vaas."_I _will name by boy Edward. You can name yours whatever you want." She said with a slight chuckle._

"Vaas!" A shout was heard, after the rumble of an engine cut off. "You motherfucking asshole!" Vaas quickly recognized the man to be Gareth.

Vaas' eyebrows rose as he turned around. He was about to question the Old Man's outburst, but before he was able to the man was grabbing Vaas by his shirt.

"What the fuck!" Vaas shouted, confused and angry. He was in no mood to be fucked with.

Gareth was furious, that much was obvious. The kind of furious when your nostrils flare and that vein in your forehead pops out. "You little shit. You absolute scum." Gareth kept firing insults, until Vaas grabbed the front of Gareths shirt with equal force.

"Vete a la verga culero! Qué chingados?" Vaas shouted, his anger was rising to the levels to match Gareths.

Gareth, however, didn't back down. Anyone with enough common sense and no wish for death would have, but not Gareth, not when it came to this. "You fucking asshole. You fucking know what this is about! I _told_ you not to fucking touch her. _None_ of the men could touch her, including _you_."

A small smile rose onto Vaas' lips, or rather a satisfied smirk. He didn't appreciate being sworn at, but this was about him bedding Scarlett. "Amigo, c'mon."

"You think this is fucking funny?" Gareth asked and Vaas' smirk widened. Gareths self control was slipping.

"Un poco, sí." Vaas admitted, the grabbed Gareths wrists. "Now get your fucking hands off of me, pendejo."

"Fuck you." Gareth snarled. "Do you know how fucking innocent she is? Huh?"

This only made Vaas' grin grow and Gareth tightened his grip on Vaas' shirt. "Hermano, she wasn't so innocent when I had her."

Thus far Gareth had been mustering all of his self control not beat him bloody, but this pushed him over the edge. Seconds after the comment had been spoken by the scarred man, he was on the sand with two loose teeth and blood filling his mouth. Pain was radiating from Vaas' jaw and eye but the grin was still present.

"You fucking scumbag. You know if you touch her you will drag her down to the hell that you live in. You are a piece of shit and I will _not_ let you make her like you." He was furious and the grin started slowly slipping from Vaas' lips. Vaas pushed Gareths hands off of him and got onto his feet. "You abandoned your family, your people. You destroy _everything_ you touch, you are the _shit_ of the fucking earth and you know it! I _won't_ let you destroy her."

Vaas smiled, but this time it was a cruel smile. "No, you did that for me. You think I'm going to fuck her up more than you already fucking have? Usted sufre de alucinaciones, pendejo."

Gareth went for another punch but Vaas skilfully dodged it. The second punch that the old man threw landed on Vaas' cheekbone, certainly resulting in a black eye later. Vaas put his hands up to defend himself but Gareth had already grabbed the front of his shirt "You know nothing." He snarled and with all of his strength tossed him into the ocean. Vaas was put off by the pain in his face and the lack of alcohol in his system that he could do nothing but fall into the water.

Vaas stood up dripping wet, he was furious. He spat the blood out of his mouth and into the sea. He cracked his knuckled with a smile.

_x_

"Has anyone tried to help him?" Scarlett asked as they sped away from the mansion.

"Help him?" Carlos wondered.

"Yeah, with the episodes about his daughter and all..." She said, but then realized that she sounded a little silly. "Then again, I doubt you have a mental health professional on the island."

"The only mental health professionals we have are drugs and alcohol. They seem to be doing the job just fine." Carlos said, to which Scarlett frowned.

"There's no point anyway. Everyone's survival rate drops to zero quite fast here. There is no point in trying to save us. It's not worth trying." Monroe spoke up softly.

"Of course it's worth trying." Scarlett said, Monroe merely raised an eyebrow at that. "I know you all think you're the shit of the earth, most of you aren't wrong. But some of you are good men."

"Do ye really believe that?"

"Of course." Scarlett said honestly, trying to shake the disbelief in Monroe's eyes.

"Mierda." Carlos swore before all hell broke loose. A powerful blast to the back of the car blew them to the side. Scarlett barely had the time to pull her hands to her chest before it had all happened. She heard muffled gunshots through the loud ringing in her ears, everything had the volume turned down. Her vision was blurry and she couldn't get air into her lungs. She felt like she was suffocating. More gunshots, but Scarlett couldn't do anything other than try to push the air in and out of her lungs.

Someone grabbed her and pulled her out of the car, she tried to fight them but she couldn't. Still, her arms whipped in the air and whacked whatever she could.

"Scarlett!" A muffled cry sounded, it was a familiar voice. "Stop fucking hitting me, we do not have the time for this!"

Her arms stilled and Scarlett tried to focus her eyes. A blurry shape which awfully reminded her of Carlos came into her line of vision.

"Carlos?" She asked, her voice hoarse.

"There we are. Now. Anything broken?"

Scarlett shook her head "No, no I don't think so." Her lungs were still not working properly and the ringing hadn't eased up even a little. She figured that was from the shock of the crash, she had never been in one before. Not in a crash this bad.

Carlos grabbed her elbow and pulled her along. Stumbling at first, Scarlett managed to find her footing quite quick. They walked for a while, she didn't know how long. They walked in the forest along the road, to be out of sight but not to get lost.

"Where's Monroe?" Scarlett shouted, knowing Carlos' ears must be shot as well. When Carlos didn't answer, she figured he hadn't heard her. So she placed her hand of his arm, with no reaction from the man, and asked again, "Where is Monroe, Carlos?"

He didn't need to say anything, the hollowed look in his eyes said enough.

Monroe didn't make it out of the car.

Her stomach churned and she covered her mouth with her hand, hoping to not throw up. She had seen death before countless of times, she had the stomach for death. This was different, this wasn't some random name of a paper. This was Monroe... This was a friend. She felt hollow and cold.

She hadn't realized she had stopped walking. Only when Carlos was almost lost in between the thick leaves she came to her senses, more of less. Picking up speed she ran to catch up with Carlos again, but she didn't dare to speak. Carlos was a balanced man and not once had she seen him like this. She didn't know if it was sorrow or anger or maybe a mix of both that hardened the man. His eyes were cold and empty, hollow. On his shoulder he still carried the black bag they had gotten from Dr. Earnhardt. The one with Vaas' drugs.

All of a sudden she felt like crying, but she bit her lip in an attempt to bite back the tears that were threatening to spill. She shook her head, knowing taking Monroe's body along would have slowed them down and probably ended up costing them their lives. The faster you are in a jungle where everything wants to kill you the better, she knew that. However Carlos still carried the drugs, a bag which was over half of her weight. She hoped to God that Vaas didn't care more for the drugs than his own men, she hoped that Carlos hadn't taken the drugs just because the aftermath of him not delivering on that would be larger than the death of one of the men. She shook her head, biting back a sob because she didn't know the answer. While yes, Vaas cared for his men enough for them to not be completely replaceable, but they were still replaceable in his eyes.

She wanted to offer Carlos words of comfort. She wanted to tell him that Monroe was a good man, but she couldn't. Because Carlos knew and it was not her place. She wasn't one of them, she was merely a visitor of sorts. Yes, she had built bonds with some of the men, but those were nothing in comparison to the bonds the men had with each other. They were brothers. And she didn't belong there with them. She wasn't cut out for a war like this, she was an assassin made to operate alone. One shot, one bullet and her job was done. No more blood was spilled than necessary.

This was carnage.

But this was what she had gotten herself into. Out of greed she accepted this job, without even fully knowing what she was getting into. Yes, she knew her job description but most of the information she had been given was half arsed. Quaint little details of drug addictions, mental illness, and a war between the pirates and the Rakyat had been left out. She didn't belong here, no, but there was no doubt about the fact that she was apart of it now.

The words Monroe said when Vaas got shot in the shoulder rang in her head.

"_Roadside ambush. One bomb, around a dozen men. It happens."_

He had been so incredibly casual about it, despite that she never thought that she'd end up in one.

Getting from the crash site to Vaas' small island was one big blur. She felt dizzy and weak the whole way, her skin was cold and clammy, and her lungs still didn't work properly. She knew well enough that she was in shock, but there wasn't much she could do about it. There was no Monroe, who would have known what to do. That also meant that her guard was down, something that should never happen on a job. At this point there wasn't exactly much that she could do about it and even though she shouldn't, she felt safe with Carlos.

"Here." Carlos said, dropping the bag full of drugs onto the table infront of a laughing Vaas.

He was joking around with the men, laughing like he had no worries in the world. Scar was half way between the car and Turkey Point. Either Vaas really didn't care or the news of Monroe's death hadn't reached him yet. Either way she could feel disgust toward the Pirate King building inside of her. Slowly, Scarlett got closer and when she was a few metres away she stopped and wrapped her arms around herself. Her lungs still didn't work and her head was hurting.

"Ah! Fucking maravilloso, guey. I see the trip went well." Vaas beamed. Scar noticed the bruising on his face but she didn't have it in her to care what had happened to him.

Carlos' turned to look at Scarlett. With blue lips and shaking hands she stood in the dirt, her eyes filled with sadness staring back at Carlos. "Monroe didn't make it." The second in command said with an even voice and turned from the table.

Scarlett closed her eyes and turned her head, she didn't want to see Vaas' reaction. She was absolutely terrified to see his reaction, because her fears might be proven right. Her legs moved her automatically away from the centre of camp. She wasn't even going in the direction of her quarters. She was just wandering. For a moment she thought she'd go to Ash, to tell him the news but she never followed through on that thought. She just wandered, hands shaking and mind racing through thoughts that she didn't remember minutes later.

She didn't know how much time had passed when she finally found her way back to Turkey Point. Some men were there, she didn't care enough to take note of who they were. She sat down at a table which had a half empty label-less bottle of Vaas' god-knows-what poison. She grabbed the neck of the bottle and chugged down three whole gulps of it. It left her spluttering and coughing and her insides burning. Her hand only but tightened on the neck of the bottle as she let out a shaky breath. Another two gulps, more coughing. Ten minutes later her throat felt thick and she was swallowing down sweet spit that seemed to pool up in her mouth in large quantities. She was going to throw up soon, she knew it.

She had enough sense to rise up from the table, removing herself from Turkey Point before she was going to empty the contents of her stomach on one of the tables. Stumbling, she tried to make her way toward her quarters. Her chest ached and she kept spitting out sweet spit. She took another another gulp from the dangerously empty bottle, not long after she was on her knees in the dirt. She was dry-heaving and coughing but her insides didn't want to come out just yet.

She felt fucking sick. The thickness in her throat remained and she spat. After a few more coughs she managed to pull herself off the ground, having to hold the wall for support. She had no idea where she was, her vision was blurred and delayed. After managing to take about two steps she started coughing and dry-heaving again. She needed water and coffee, she knew that, but instead she drank more of the mystery liquid.

She ended up at the big warehouse, rather than her quarters. She didn't go in, but she heard Vaas' drug induced mumbles. She couldn't understand most of what he was saying, since he spoke Spanish for a good amount of the time. He had someone else there too, a hostage by the sounds of it. The sound of desperate crying echoed off the walls and Scar felt sick to her stomach.

"Jesus motherfucking Christ will you fucking stop crying. Huh?" There was a loud smack and a muffled scream of pain. Then a deep chuckle that sent shivers down Scar's spine. He shouted something in Spanish. The weeping quieted down and Vaas spoke in his usual mocking tone, when the hostage got a little louder he raised his voice more. At some point he shouted something about how he "would name all of the tiny fuckers in the world Edward if it made you happy". The beginning of the sentence was in Spanish she she had no clue of the context. Scarlett had never heard of an Edward, nor did she know who the "you" was that Vaas was referring to.

Vaas continued what Scar gathered to be the same sentence. "Do you fucking believe that huh? Some fucking tiny fucker named Edward. Fuck off." Vaas chuckled "The world's a funny fucking place." After some more of the liquid in the bottle Scar dragged herself onto her feet and started walking away from the warehouse, growing bored with Vaas' barely understandable ramblings. She couldn't bring herself to care about the hostage with Vaas. This time she had no excuse, she just didn't fucking care.

Not caring was dangerous, however she felt that it was justified given the current state of affairs. She briefly wondered how the men were doing, Monroe had been a vital member not only in Vaas' camp, but all over the North Island. Everyone here was used to death, they had to be, but Monroe must have been different. He _had to_ be different.

At some point she ended up in her own quarters. She had thought about going to the sea, but the moon was high in the sky and the jungle was more dangerous during the night. All of the animals came out of their hiding spots. Her mind flashed back to Vaas, hearing him torturing whoever the poor bastard was that he ended up choosing. Night was truly the time when all of the animals came out.

She didn't sleep for a long time. She was curled up in a ball on her bed for a good part of the night. Once the alcohol started wearing out and the exhaustion kicked in, she finally managed to sleep.

_x_

"Where's Vaas?" Scarlett asked, her head was killing her. She had a hangover and she was dehydrated and still not over the events of the day before.

Gareth sighed, his shoulders slumped but his eyes were fixed on Scarlett. "Probably at the warehouse. I wouldn't go over there." There was something in his voice that didn't promise good.

"How so?"

Gareth seemed reluctant to say anything, but finally he opened his mouth. "He had one of his moments last night."

Scarlett shook her head. "What exactly does that mean?"

"It means... It means that he had enough alcohol and drugs in his system to be a hair length away from over dosing. He also grabbed one of the hostages and by the sounds of it, it didn't end well for him." Gareth took a sip of his water.

"I heard the screams." Scarlett mumbled, having a vague memory of it. Her mind flashed to the crash yesterday and her stomach felt like turning itself inside out.

"Scarlett," Gareth said, "You don't understand. He took one of the_ hostages_. Not one of the rejects, one of the hostages."

She felt disgusted, but there was a part of her which was worried about Vaas.

"You should stay away from him. I know it's none of my business, but you're still family. No matter what. Vaas is not a good man." Gareth said.

Scarlett nodded. "I know, old man." She stood up, grabbing the water bottle off the table and heading toward the direction of the big warehouse. "I know." She mumbled. Despite what Gareth had just said, she needed to find Vaas. She had helped Monroe with taking care of the wounded for a while, but that didn't mean she could keep doing it. She had always been following instructions, she couldn't have Vaas think that she could take over for him. There was also another part of her, a terrifyingly large part, which was worried about Vaas. There was a very good chance the man was currently on the floor of the warehouse in a pool of vomit.

She took a shaky breath and knocked on the closed door of the warehouse. That in itself should have made her turn back. The door had never been closed, the fact that it was meant trouble. When there was no answer from the inside, she grabbed the handle of the door with both of her hands and using her whole strength, she managed to slide the heavy, rusty metal door open.

The warehouse was empty, with only one figure sitting in a chair in the dim room.

"Vaas?" She called out but no answer. Her head stung when her own voice echoed back at her, but she paid no attention to it as the person in the chair did not move. Her heart rate picked up slightly.

She hurried closer, her vision becoming blurry with tears. The men couldn't lose Vaas right after Monroe. _She_ couldn't lose him.

"Oh no no no no." She muttered, her hands shaking as she shuffled forward. She saw that the person who was in the chair wasn't Vaas and a small wave of relief rushed over her. However the mop of hair on the person looked strangely familiar, so she couldn't stop herself from going closer. She felt something crunch under her shoes when she was close by. With her trembling fingers she reached forward to his chin and pulled it up. The body was cold, and the moment she saw his face she pulled her hand away, like she had been electrocuted and turned around. Her hand was on her mouth, she shook her head from left to right, trying to hold down the vomit.

It was David. Instead of his eyes there were two holes in his head. Dried blood was on his mouth and chin, like he had been drooling it.

Vaas had scooped out his eyes. Her stomach gave an ugly lurch and she was glad she had had a very small breakfast. Scarlett squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, but when the only image she saw was David's dead face she was forced to open them. She took a step away, but she felt something under her toes again. She slowly looked down and she saw teeth and fingernails, scattered all around the chair. Vaas had pulled out all of his teeth.

* * *

**Sé que mintió acerca de la rehén. / I know you lied about the hostage.**

**Vete a la verga culero! Qué chingados? / Fuck you asshole. What the fuck?**

**Un poco, sí. / A little, yes.**

**Pendejo. / Jackass (and/or) Asshole.**

**Usted sufre de alucinaciones. / You're delusional.**

**Maravilloso / Marvellous.**

* * *

**A/N: Yeah.**

**I'm shit at updating this story. I know. I won't even throw any excuses at you.**

**Reviews are better than having your teeth, nails and eyes pulled out.**


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